How can hell break loose
by greenspace
Summary: A modern AU installment involving a few characters of my other fic, 'Wanted dead or alive'. Let's just say that, for some people, it's always about bad timing.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! This is something I'm posting to make amends for not updating 'Wanted dead or alive'. Exams are coming and I currently am quite the nervous wreck so, yeah, it's not my best of times to write something with clear mind. A new chapter to it will be up in precisely a week, I promise.**

**This modern AU thing is something I was fiddling with at some point around Christmas. Mama Dís also makes a guest appearance in this one! I took the liberty to change her name to Desirée just so it sounded a tad more modern.**

**Hope this can compensate for the missing chapter in the original story. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Oh, and Fil has the potatoes if you want to mash them up."

An annoyed sigh escaped her mouth and Arya twirled the fork in her hand, wondering if it could possibly transmute into a trident that'd make the twit shut up. "Please," she snorted, "feel free to share whatever is the matter with you."

"Ho ho," Fili feigned a laugh the moment Kili angrily went to open his mouth, "mum's here, bro." Then he shot him a glare, the unmistakable pointed one warning him not to start another fight.

It had ended up a joke, their fights. They had begun long, long ago. Almost one and a half years ago, to be precise, when Arya had come to work for them and Fili, upon managing with mighty efforts to pull out of her that she was unsuccessfully house hunting for weeks, had generously suggested that she could rent the spare room in his place. She and his brother had met on her first day at work. There had been a small misunderstanding, which subsequently resulted in a spectacular quarrel; so spectacular, in fact, that a few of their colleagues had half a mind to grab a bag of popcorn and watch.

From there on, everything went downhill. They started to argue on a daily basis for practically everything. It became a strange sort of ritual; if there wasn't one thing to argue about, something was amiss. On certain instances they couldn't even recall the cause of their argument, either it being important or petty. They just held to their respective opinions so strongly, both being unreasonably stubborn and proud, that there were times they refused to even look at each other.

Not that they looked at each other a lot; in the beginning, at least. After the first four or so months, one was trying to catch the other's glimpse when the other wasn't looking. Fili had naturally observed this. The day he did, he had laughed so hard, a little wee actually came out. Yet whenever he'd try to make either of them open their eyes and see what all this was about, or teased them, they went on full Hulk mode and touted it, at the very least, absurd.

And all this led on to the present day and moment, where Kili was ignoring him and was already tuned up for another promising fight. He turned his eyes back to Arya. "There is nothing the matter with me. I am just not completely devoid of sentiment," he accused gruffly. "I have manners and respect; unlike certain others who've been sulking for the past hour while everyone else here is trying to have a nice family meal."

Her fork dropped on the plate and then the table with a metallic thud. "Okay," she snapped quietly, "fine."

Kili's face remained neutral as she jumped up from her seat and stormed out of the room, while Fili let a weary sigh that was drowned in the palpable discomfort of the atmosphere.

Desirée had remained silent all this time, observing carefully the three people around the table. Seldom she'd seen Kili take it out on someone -it mainly happened when her dearest brother was in the vicinity, armed with his incomparable talent to make even the most patient of people lose their temper. She couldn't possibly figure out why the girl annoyed him so much. She had met Arya on a few occasions during the last year and a half and, granted, it wasn't that much to get to know her well enough, but she seemed quite nice, if a bit distant at times –though only when people didn't carefully observe her. Fili had also never mentioned something disagreeable about her character. Yet still, in contrast to her older, Kili was-

Oh. _Oooh_.

It didn't take much for the shrewd mother of two to realise where the root of all trouble lay. She tried to recall the signs marking that Kili was smitten with a girl, but something felt weirdly off this time. And not necessarily good weird.

Just then Arya barged into the room with a furious look, holding a small box in her hands. "Don't say that I have no manners or respect," she spat out as she came to stand in front of Kili. "This was my father's camera. And these," she all but shoved the box under his nose, "are the only things I have left from him and mum and my brothers."

The box contained a variety of stuff, a plethora of which was a bunch of photographs, mainly family ones. Kili caught from the corner of his eye one depicting a boy and a girl holding a slightly red and wrinkled baby.

"The reason I don't share your cheery mood is because they are all dead and the only family I have left live three countries away, and I see them twice a year, at best. And this," she gestured towards the table and the people around it, "makes me uncomfortable. Now, I don't see why I should apologise for feeling a bit out of sorts, but I'm pretty sure you're the only one here mistaking that for lack of manners and respect, simply because you willfully misunderstand anything that has to do with me."

At that precise moment, a thread snapped in Kili's chest. All his annoyance and anger evaporated and were replaced by mortification. He would very much like to go find himself a rock to hide under.

"I insisted from the beginning not to be here because I knew, to some extent, something like this would happen." She turned to the blond and his mother with a somewhat apologetic look, "No offence, but I only agreed because Fili's been badgering me for the past three days." Suddenly her features relaxed a little and there was irony in her voice as she turned to Kili again, "So I'm sorry to harsh your mellow, please go back to enjoying the happy meal with your family and not a stranger."

With that she set off to her room again, closing the door behind her and dropping the box on her desk.

Mother and younger son sat there, quite dumbfounded. True enough, Fili had had a hard time convincing her to stay home this day. But there enter Kili. How could Fili possibly guess the little prat would pull at the thread so far?

"Bravo," he muttered dryly and began clapping his hands.

Kili didn't even bother to look at him, let alone reply. He had just fixed his eyes on an empty spot across the table, looking absolutely ready to shove his head up the roasted chicken's ass to spare himself the judgmental looks. He just didn't like how Arya was sulking like a spoiled brat that didn't get the present she wanted. How was he supposed not to hit that spot since he didn't know why?

"Here's an idea," Fili commented dryly. "Go and apologise."

The brunet hesitantly raised his so far downcast head and met his brother's otherwise smiley blue eyes suddenly having turned severe and solemn. Suddenly he reminded him disturbingly a lot of uncle Thorin.

"I doubt she wants to see him right now," their mother aptly pointed out. A sigh escaped her then, followed by the sound of metal scratching lightly against the plate. "Come on, the food's not going to eat itself."

* * *

Within seconds from withdrawing in the peace of her room, Arya had tossed her jeans into the closet, threw on her sweatpants and a hoodie over her head so viciously, she almost pulled her hair out in the process. This all happened with the intention to get out of there as fast as humanly possible. The rain was raging hard outside, but sod it. It could be hailing, snowing - could be a bloody hurricane for all she cared. Running was one of those activities that managed to get her somewhere close to venting, so it was the next best thing after slamming a pan on Kili's head if bloodshed was to be prevented.

With headphones blasting out Prodigy loud enough to raise the dead, she put the hood on and stormed out of the house before you could say 'knife'. The thud of the door closing did not pass unnoticed, despite it being low, seeing as the other three were rather silent at the time.

The family meal rolled unlike the other times. Silence dominated most of it, and only when the wine took an effect there were a few scarce smiles. It was an hour after Kili and their mother left that a dripping wet from both sweat and rain Arya made the honours, only to find Fili waiting to grill her about her whereabouts and then harangue her like a mother hen for running in the rain.

She just shook her head at the end of it and headed straight for the shower without answering any questions.

* * *

Meanwhile, the twenty minutes' car ride to drive his mother to the station had set Kili on edge. They hadn't really talked a lot en route. She didn't even make an attempt to scold him about his rather tactless outburst earlier. She was too silent and Kili didn't like that. Lack of words usually was a harbinger of a storm when it came to her.

Somewhere in the middle of the route, he couldn't take it anymore. "Will you say something?" he huffed out. "Anything. Just don't make me feel like I've commited murder."

From the passenger seat, dear old mum threw him a _look_ from the corner of her eye. "If you wanna talk about something in specific, go on, I'm all ears."

Trying to keep his attention on the road, he risked a quick, confused glance at her. "Same applies to you."

She sighed. "Kili, you are almost twenty-seven years old. I think you're smart enough to figure it out on your own."

"I made a mistake, okay?" he said wearily. "I'll fix it. I will apologise to-"

Here, she pursed her lips to cover the rumbling laughter that was ready to break out and pinched the bridge of her nose. It seemed to be a gesture that ran in the family, for everyone did it on numerous occasions.

"What?" Kili demanded, furrowing his eyebrow in suspicion. "Why are you laughing?" But his mother resumed her efforts to choke her laughter and refused to say anything. It didn't really bring out the best reaction. "Is there something funny and overly obvious to you that my limited intelligence does not allow me to grasp?"

"Ah," Desirée panted when the laughter ebbed away, "you are in big, _big_ trouble, you know that?"

"Actually, no, I don't! Could you please be so kind and explain it to me?"

"First of all, I'm not deaf," she said evenly, not wanting to push him to his limits, and he seemed to tone it down. "Look, you may not like Arya a lot, but everyone has bad days. And you _do_ have to apologise to her. Who knows," she shrugged, "you may even make her smile in the end."

Kili rolled his eyes. He would only pull a smile out of the woman purely due to the outrage of the scene of him apologising to her -and it'd be one of gleeful revenge; otherwise, there wasn't even the slightest chance for this to happen. Only a few times, counted on the fingers of one hand, he'd seen her smiling genuinely. One of those times, in fact, he had captured on his phone -unbeknownst to her. If she, god forbid, ever learned about the existence of this photo, she would probably sue him for stalking her, or being a pervert, or all sorts of accusations she could dig up from a law book.

Of course, he was neither a stalker nor a pervert. It was a simple picture that was randomly taken in a night out with friends, where she had ended up something less than sober and it was actually the first time she had smiled at him.

Unable to be as subtle as the situation obliged, Desirée decided to drop the bait, "Besides, she looks far better smiling than brooding, don't you think?"

Kili nodded absentmindedly, instead too preoccupied with the mental image of Arya's face at the exact moment he was taking the picture. She hadn't stopped laughing that night and, for a weird reason, he remembered himself being quite amused by that fact; she seemed to be an affectionate drunk. He still couldn't get over that smile. It was so wide and genuine that it brightened her whole face and, as he grudgingly admitted, made him smile as well. So, yes, she looked infinitely better smiling.

His mother's chortles failed to reach his ears and he coerced his eyes to focus on the road ahead. It much later occurred to him that he had seconded her sayings with something more than a mere nod and rather ardently.

* * *

Almost two days had passed since that fateful meal and Arya had yet to emerge from her lair for a social reason, except to visit the loo, or refill her stock of water.

Fili was starting to worry. She barely talked and hadn't actually eaten anything since Thursday afternoon, although she was known to do that on any random day as well. Many a time he had barged into her room with a tray of food, but he saw her snugly swaddled under the covers, and with half a heart decided not to disturb her.

Saturday morning had arrived and Fili had half a mind to miss his flight. They had arranged to spend the weekend at uncle Thorin's, but with the living puppet in the house, he wasn't sure he'd make it. But his mother came up with an idea and, after two hours of thinking and rethinking, he found himself having packed things up and sticking a note on the fridge for Arya to read. At least, he hoped she would. Normally it was the first place a sane person would head to in order to sate their hunger. _Normally_.

While initially quite angry to hear the news that he wouldn't get to join them -hence the ticket was bought for nothing- Kili eventually had to comply with the devious scheme. What he would give to have gone with them, though. The rest of the family's friends would be there too; Uncle Thorin and Mr. Balin would probably enter a long, tedious conversation about politics, Dwalin would play along until he'd get bored and start knocking back all of Thorin's supplies in beer, Bombur would have one of his famous barbecues and so on; perhaps cousin Gimli would also drop by for a visit if he found the time. However, after the blunder Kili had made two days ago, that lovely routine went flying out of the window. And he was stuck here, obliged to keep company and also an eye on his brother's flatmate who, as Fili informed him, had been sleeping for two days in a row and was probably –and stupidly- starving herself.

Talking about fun, eh?

Yet the more the idea swirled around his head, the more agreeable it sounded. Perhaps in a very deep, dusty part of his subconscious, he might want to stay alone with her for a whole weekend. It wasn't a chance he got every day, after all. Yet that particular thought failed to prevail in his mind, or perhaps he well succeeded in blocking it.

He hadn't realised how his steps carried him outside the large building. He hurriedly entered it, as well as the lift seconds later and pressed the button for the wanted floor. He took a deep breath, exhaled loudly and then braced himself for what was about to come. He did not like apologies; was never good at it. And despite his hurry when he'd walked into the building, his hesitation exploded tenfold when he put the key in the hole and the door of the flat opened.

* * *

A polite knock sounded at the door, but Arya made no move to open it. She had caught a few scattered words of Fili's earlier this morning that he was going to be away for the weekend, although she was too drowsy to be sure. Manners be damned, but she really didn't want to see anyone apart from the walls of the room right now. So she simply continued to lay on the bed and attune her hearing to the numbing sound of the traffic outside.

Yet another knock sounded at the door, more insistent this time. This wasn't Fili -he never waited to be asked in.

The faint scent of something edible was carried through the crack under the door and made her nostrils tingle in response. It was like she'd been trying to survive somewhere in a rainforest and all her senses were tuned up to eleven. And the knocks on the door gradually increased in both volume and intensity. Until she could not have it anymore and jumped off the bed, crossing the room in three large strides.

The door swung open, and there would be a gasp of surprise if her nerves weren't too busy flaying themselves. "Are you trying to deafen me?" she all but growled at the totally unexpected intruder.

"Top o' the mornin' to ya."

That took her a long way back. As far as she was concerned, he said that only on two occasions. The first involved her and commenced on one unfortunate November morning that she'd got her period and could barely stand, and had merely nodded at him instead of going through the whole 'good morning' ritual. Apparently, back then he had decided that he'd never let her live that down, and made a point of greeting her like this every time she happened to piss him off on a morning ever since. The second was whenever someone made the mistake of revealing their belief that Irish people actually said that to each other, at which point he'd facepalm on the inside and proceed to correct the misconception for what appeared to be the zillionth time.

_That's weird_. She hadn't realised she was so observant when it came to him. Usually she'd try her best not to be in his presence if there was the prospect of being away, much less watch his interactions with other people like some kind of a stalker.

Brushing this aside, she remained in front of the door and his way. Her eyes briefly roamed about his figure and came to land on the small bag in his hand, from which the tantalising smell emanated. On the other hand, perhaps it came from him. Wherever he went, he would always trail a faint scent of lemon and bergamot behind which, despite the fruity undertones that made him smell like the air above a coastal orchard in Tuscany, oddly managed to remain masculine. It also resulted, much to her dismay, in making Arya describe that scent as liquid sex at some point in the past. A rather catastrophic result, someone could argue; that someone being Arya, of course.

Her stomach made an ever so slight rumble and she clenched her teeth in irritation, hoping that he didn't notice. "What are you doing here?"

Those were words spoken with all the amiability of a resounding command to go do something anatomically impossible. "Such a polite manner to greet a guest," Kili commented dryly.

"It is for the unwanted ones," she shot back, still refusing to grant him entrance. In a further attempt to make him feel more unwelcome, she straightened her shoulders and set herself as a prominent obstacle between him and the room, ready to shut the door in his face and limit the duration of his visit to the minimum.

Her defensive stance did nothing more than make him want to laugh. "Seriously?" he quirked an eyebrow, not even bothering to look threatened, and made a face as though she was doing something that was doomed to fail. "You are a head shorter and half in width compared to me," he noted. "Do you honestly believe you stand a chance?"

A scowl spread on her face. "If my memory serves me right, and it usually does, weren't you the one complaining that you couldn't even move when I fell on top of you that time we played Twister?"

For a fraction of a second, Kili went to smile as he recalled that night. It had started rather uneventfully as they had gathered in a friend's place. Someone had then discovered the box with the game shoved in a dusty shelf of the library and the _real_ fun began.

Now, he simply ignored the snarky reply; he'd grown used to them by now. Hell, he even liked them sometimes. "You look surprisingly clean for someone who has been rotting in a room for three days."

She fixed him with a wry look. "I paid the occasional visit to the shower, mind you."

A very annoying voice in his head ushered him to solve this as soon as possible and not procrastinate. "Look, I'm sorry for what I told you," he blurted out quickly. It was like how a band aid should be removed, fast and painlessly. "I didn't know about-"

"And how not knowing justifies the fact that you accused me of ruining your day, exactly?"

"You just pissed me off by sitting there like an extra from the video clip of 'Thriller'! I wanted to do something to get you livelier."

"Oh way to go, mate," she said with a humourless chuckle and clapped her hands in applaud. "There you go, see? I'm the laughing zombie now. Should I start dancing, as well?"

Kili was starting to fume his brains out. He both liked and hated when she was giving him a telling off. If that wasn't a sign of insanity, then what was? "The last thing I wanted was to hurt you, okay?"

"Will I get to win something if I act like I care?"

"How did you get to be so cynical?"

"Years of practice," she said coldly.

Kili rolled his eyes. "Can you just accept my apology? I was only trying to make you look less grumpy. Agreed, it wasn't the best way, but I didn't know with what way to go!" he cried dramatically. "You've never told me practically anything about yourself, I don't know you half as well as my brother does, how was I supposed to know what makes you feel better?"

It was the first time during this... conversation -if someone could call it that- that she didn't manage to hold back the overflow of emotions. Her eyes were sparkling and he didn't know what the cause of it was, tears or anger. He felt uncomfortable with either of them.

"You don't know anything about me," she said evenly and her tone gradually increased, "because you've made a point of lashing out at me from the moment we met! And for inexplicable reasons that reside inside your precious little conniving mind!" A resigned huff escaped her mouth when she could find no other words to yell and turned away from him, for the first time abandoning her post at the door.

Kili saw the chance and immediately took it. He walked into the room, observing how she stood there with her back turned to him. "Okay," he sighed, "I may have lashed out at you for no reason, maybe... maybe because I was having a bad day-"

"_Days_, Kili," she corrected with harsh voice. "Far too many bad days."

"Days, so be it," he gave up. "But apart from the fact that you've done it equal times," here he ignored the murderous glare she sent him, "I don't know how to behave around you." Despite his age and the fact that he'd had his fair share of experience with women, there was a rush of blood racing up to his face the moment he heard his own words. Good Lord, was he blushing? Yet the words were out and couldn't get back in. Oh, to hell with it. "I don't even know what your opinion of me is."

She resisted the urge to scoff. What could her opinion of someone who considered her his archenemy be? What, indeed? Yet she could not bring herself to hate him. She had tried her best to make herself believe it, but that never actually brought results. There were also times she caught him evoking the strangest of feelings to her. Though she couldn't fathom how she could possibly have such disturbing feelings for an arse like him, the sight of whom exchanging saliva with any female specimen made her feel like someone had reached down her throat, grabbed her small intestine, pulled it out of her mouth and tied it around her neck.

"Right now," Kili mused, "I'm between hatred and wanting to throw me in a river and let the water do the rest."

Yes, that was actually a very close guess. "Don't flatter yourself," she said blankly, "I wouldn't go into so much trouble for you."

"And I hope you'll never have to." She nodded. "So we're good then?"

Eager for this session to come to an end as soon as possible, she decided to get on with it. "Let's say we are."

"Better than nothing," he muttered with relief and perched himself on her bed, trying to get as comfortable as he could. "Now, stop pretending to be a mosaic and come to eat," he said, patting the spot beside him.

Her head had turned just in time to see his gesture and how he had opened the bag he held all this time, also producing a fork out of thin air and placing it on one of the two boxes the bag contained. "Ever so gallant and chivalrous," she sneered, but made no move to join him. "I'm not hungry."

Kili arched an eyebrow. "When your stomach rumbles like a Velociraptor from Jurassic Park, it means you _have_ to eat."

Arya scowled. The last thing she needed right now was a scolding, especially from him. Still, she debated with herself; she hadn't actually given much thought to how hungry she was and was only now starting to realise the extent. The moment he took a doughnut out of the bag was the critical point where she lost all control. Her whole mouth filled with saliva that she tried to swallow as discreetly as she could.

Kili had already been taking excellent care of it, the corners of his mouth stained with a bit of powdered sugar from the icing.

Sod it, she thought and took a seat upon the bed, though trying to remain as far from him as possible. Her hand hesitantly reached to take one doughnut from the box and she noticed the weird smile Kili had on his face as he observed her. "Have you poisoned it or something?" she asked suspiciously, her hand lingering an inch away from the box.

The dark-haired man on her opposite closed his eyes in mild frustration. "No, Arya," he sighed, "I haven't poisoned it."

"Then stop smiling. It's creepy."

He briefly raised his hands in defeat and coerced the grin off his face, staring as she took a bite.

For a brief second that the chocolate filling cream slipped from the corner of her lips and went to slide down her chin, Kili was overwhelmed by an irresistible urge to wipe it. He made crucial efforts not to allow his imagination to run wild regarding the means he'd use to wipe it. A sane person could use his hand and a tissue, while he was rather eager to use his own mouth and tongue. In the end of that torturous second, however, nothing of the two happened and Arya wiped the chocolate on her own.

Two more doughnuts followed after the first, and it was then that he took the other box out of the bag and opened it, revealing a piece of pie inside. Kili had only brought it to lure her to eat a proper meal later, which would preferably include meat. She had a sweet tooth, he knew that, but had also observed how much more she was into contrasting flavours.

Licking the remains of chocolate off of her fingers, Arya looked down at the lemon pie with a predatory look, as though it was a mortal enemy. Apparently, she had been quite hungry. Kili was offering her pie. And she wanted the pie. She could show this pie a good time.

She grabbed the fork in her hand and cut a small piece from the tip. Kili refrained from admitting, even mentally, that he was a tiny bit turned on by her moan when the piece successfully found its way into her mouth.

Arya could barely hold herself from devouring everything in front of her, including the fork. The bite she had taken was melting in her mouth like an ice-cream placed under the hot sun, and the cream was out of this world. It exploded on her tongue in tiny bombs of sweet and sour bliss. She swallowed soundly, savouring the taste, sad that she would soon have to evacuate the nirvana and return to the real world. She could feel Kili's eyes on her as she ate, but couldn't honestly give a damn, even if there was cream spread all over her face.

His hand hindered her effort to take a second bite. Not even flinching, he was not at all fazed by the murderous glare she gave him when she threateningly wiggled the fork before his eyes. "The rest you can have after a proper meal."

Feeling like she was on detention, she scowled again, "You should really know better than depriving a woman of her favourite dessert."

There was an edge in her tone that belied her casual manner and made Kili half-smile. He couldn't describe in words how he delighted in trying to get a rise out of her, although this time she seemed prone to complying with his instructions. She dropped the fork and moved her gaze from him.

"Why don't you do something else rather than mope around the house?" he blurted out after a few minutes of awkward silence. "For a change."

Her eyes squinted in suspicion. Was he trying to make small talk or something?

Kili mistook the lack of answer for refusal to speak, when she in fact didn't know how to respond. "It might be good to share some of the thoughts that hurt you with other people," he said in earnest. "Why don't you give it a try?"

A mask of apathy -which, given that it was her, was a damn good one- covered her face and hid the real emotions that threatened to pour out. She silently stood from the bed and strode to the window. After a pensive second, her voice came out flat, "Because I don't want people to pity me."

Kili felt a twinge in his stomach and he narrowed his eyes in confusion. "I doubt you can strike as the character that will be pitied, whatever you do or say," he replied with deep, solemn voice. "I, for one, do not pity you for what unfathomable reasons you think I do. One can also sympathise."

Her nervousness -an ever so slight shuffling of her feet- showed signs of an inner debate, a battle between what she thought wiser to do and what she actually wanted to do. The sight prompted Kili not to lose any more time and make the first step. Literally. He walked behind her, placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around.

It took her completely by surprise and she reflexively flinched back.

He seemed a bit put off by her sudden retreat, but refused to relent. "Come on," he said with a light smile, "reliving past pain and getting depressed is not the prediction of your star sign this week."

She didn't seem to appreciate the joke. Seeing her absorbed by her thoughts, certain that she was assessing her next move, he cautiously pulled her closer for a hug.

Arya oddly found herself unable to provide any resistance. Not because she was dying to be cuddled up into his arms, but because she in no bloody way ever expected this particular man to proceed to such a gesture that exclusively involved the two of them and not even a birthday celebration posed as the cause for close contact. No one had dared to come so close to her in what seemed like centuries -closer, not with a lascivious connotation or something of that sort, just good old affection and comfort; yet sprinkled with a little extra something that made all the change in the world.

One of his hands comfortably rested on her back, while the other slid upwards and his fingers gently started to comb through her hair. Judging by her current stance -a statue would be livelier than her- he suspected she wasn't particularly used to any gestures akin to intimacy, or that she had perhaps forgotten what intimacy felt like. Oddly, he found himself something more than willing to potentially be the one who would reintroduce intimacy -of any level- to her.

* * *

Kili didn't realise how much time had passed. It could be seconds, could be minutes, could be hours for all he cared, yet he was willing to hold her until she got used to the comfort and safety his arms provided. And then there was the classic Arya, who was fighting off her natural instincts from the moment they kicked in. She didn't know why she hugged him back, other than that she simply wanted to.

Until the phone rang in the living room and the sound disrupted their bubble of bliss. She was the first to break the hug and take an awkward step back from him, and he couldn't do anything else than accept her retreat this time.

"I'll get it," he said under his breath, quite displeased that the moment they shared was so brutally interrupted by the damn phone. He quickly wiggled his head to shake the disturbing notion off and returned to his default mode. "Gather your carcass and come to eat."

He was already heading to the door, not even expecting to hear an answer or a protest as the ringing became rather insistent and annoying. Passing by her desk, his eyes took a glimpse of the box that she'd flashed at the table two days ago and hadn't bothered to put it back to its usual shelter.

There were random, all sorts of things inside, yet there was something that literally made him freeze on the spot and forget about the phone. "Arya...?"

"Mmm?" she muttered absentmindedly, having fallen three strides behind him as she was rather busy trying to get over the shock of what had just taken place.

With a look of all the perplexity in the world Kili swiveled around, holding something in his hand. "What is my t-shirt doing in the box?"

And just like that, all hell broke loose.

* * *

**Hope you liked that and I'm again very sorry that the original story wasn't updated in time.**

**Leave a review if you want!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, you guys! Many thanks to those who followed, favourited and reviewed this! Those of you who left a review asked for a second one, plus I won't be able to update the original story for a while, so I'm making amends by writing some more snippets for this story. I wanted to write something to cheer myself up, so this is just pure, shameless fluff. Enjoy!**

* * *

If there was a time for the gates of hell to open up and pull Arya inside, it'd better be now. Inwardly cursing, she wondered what serious wrongdoing she had done to anyone and it turned back to her now. Every single one of her mistakes flitted before her eyes and she could no longer see Kili in front of her, but Jules Winnfield reciting the famous passage of Ezekiel, ready to execute her.

Only instead of a gun, Kili was holding the blasted t-shirt he had lent her months ago to wear when she was forced to spend the night at his place, because Fili and his date had every intention of getting pretty loud and describing. There was a mere wall, and quite thin at that, separating their rooms after all. Fili had been considerate enough to not let her miss sleep, she was unlucky enough to hane none of her friends able to offer their couch for the evening, therefore, as a last resort, the blond shipped her off to his brother despite her protests that she'd rather sleep on a bench at the park than disturb his Royal Highness.

Long story short, she eventually and unwillingly dragged herself there, his Highness miraculously had no problem with her crashing on his couch but, as history showed, naturally something had to go wrong. There was an accident involving a badly opened carton of milk and Kili, being the kind host he was, lent her one of his t-shirts to wear at work the morning after. After that he hadn't asked her to return it, and it had been a most busy time, so the whole thing was forgotten.

History became legend, legend became myth, and for four and a half months the t-shirt passed out of all knowledge.

Until now, when luck struck again, and the piece of clothing ensnared his holder of the past months. From the whole bloody closet, it had to be found in there. Had she actually put it in there herself in a fit of madness –or perhaps drunk- or did it accidentally end up there some time she moved the clothes around? Good Lord, let it be the second.

Three seconds of deadly silence, only punctuated by the sound the phone made, intervened between the moment his hands took hold of the shirt and the moment he turned to her, yet to both of them felt like a century. The light dizziness with which he had woken up prior to his visit here apparently continued to haunt his head, despite his belief that it had been just a head rush from waking up too fast, and also his heart seemed to malfunction all of a sudden.

One beat. "Arya..." A fainter beat. Straight line. "What is my t-shirt doing in the box?"

"I...um, don't know?" she replied with a shrug, frozen on the spot, her whole body stiff.

Kili wiggled his head in confusion. "You don't know?"

"It must have ended up in there by mistake as I was fumbling with the clothes... I forgot to give it to you, so, you know..." she babbled awkwardly, "since you found it, you can take it back."

"Mm-hmm," he mumbled thoughtfully, choosing to believe her sayings and not torture his mind with thoughts and notions that would most likely keep him awake at night.

Without another word, he turned his back to her and headed for the living room where his phone was now ringing anew. Upon seeing what name was flickering on the screen of his phone, he positively looked like the incarnation of a serial killer. "What?" he all but growled.

"_Have you murdered each other yet?_" Fili's cheerful voice twittered.

* * *

After that short trip to hell and back, Arya allowed the breath she was reflexively holding to finally come out and with hesitant steps followed suit seconds later. Strolling down the hallway towards the kitchen, she caught his voice.

"...but I'll certainly murder someone soon enough-"

Her hands clenched into fists as she walked closer. Her ears began to ring and her nerves were set ablaze. Of course, she couldn't have known that by 'someone', he meant Fili and his unfortunate timing.

"What?! Why?" asked the brunet.

"_Uh, have you looked outside?_"

Without replying he opened the curtain of the small window in the kitchen and came face to face with impossibly huge, thick raindrops the size of tennis balls falling from the dark grey sky and idly plopping on the ground. "It wasn't even raining half hour ago!"

"_Oh, yeah, since shitty weather is such a rare phenomenon in this country,_" Fili commented wryly. "_It's even worse here- H__alf the flights are canceled__."_

Kili cursed under his breath. His head started to feel a little iffy. "Talk later, bye."

He was standing next to the kitchen counter when the call came to an end, completely oblivious of the other presence in the kitchen. Really bad decision on his part to stand so close to the cutlery block, Arya noted. There were knives in there. And she really knew how to use them.

The sound of footsteps reached his ears and he quickly shoved the phone in his pocket and swiveled around. The woman was standing barely two feet away, so disturbingly tranquil that almost made him recoil. Her face marvellously resembled a blank sheet of paper. She deflected so well, not even in his wildest thoughts he could fathom that, on the inside, her hand was itching to smack her head because of her stupidity to believe that he actually cared even a bit about her. He didn't give a damn.

"Why did you even come in the first place?" she said with a little shrug, as though it'd make no difference whether he answered or not. "Don't say to bring me food. As you see, all my four limbs function just fine. I could cook something myself if I got hungry."

"No doubt your limbs function just fine," Kili shot back. "It's your brain I'm worried about."

The retort she came up with never left her mouth. Instead, she gave another shrug. "You are free to leave, you know. I wouldn't want to foil whatever plans you have for the rest of the day."

Kili whimpered. And he was the one accused of willfully misunderstanding anything that had to do with her? Seriously? "The only plan I have is to keep you company-"

"It's not a plan if you're forced to do it, it's an obligation," she corrected. "And I don't like to be indebted to anyone. _You_ clearly don't want to be here, _I_ am in no special haste to keep you here," somewhere in the world an actor possibly jumped off a building right then by how convincingly that line was delivered, "so if you'd please be so kind as to sod off, that would be great."

"What, you're kicking me out of my brother's house?"

"I am kicking you out of nowhere," she said coldly. "My feet touched no part of your body."

His face was starting to get dangerously red. "Why do you have to make everything difficult?" he snapped. "I came here so that you wouldn't be alone all weekend-"

"You came because Fil told you to come. So can we please stop this farce?"

Kili gave the bridge of his nose a violent pinch, trying to fight off his increasingly annoying headache that was now getting worse due to the voice volumes and tone Arya used. He moved from the counter over to where she stood. She tried to draw further back as he rested his hands on either side of her head, effectively trapping her between himself and the fridge. Despite her being at a disadvantage, Kili was a firm believer of 'the size does not matter'. Living proof, the woman before him, whose right cross could make one see stars.

So yes, by standing there, he was risking life, body and dignity as it was. "Get your head out of your arse and accept the help people want to give you," he growled. "It'll make everyone's life easier."

Arya couldn't decide whether or not she was content with her entrapment. Her head certainly tended towards the 'no' end with a voice that ribbed her to push him away, yet the rest of her body did not cooperate with the mental command. It relished their sudden proximity and apparently was too weak to resist. Damned weaknesses.

"So sit on a chair, eat your damn food, and stop trying to flambé my head," Kili went on. "The headache's already doing enough on its own."

Just then it hit her. He looked sallow and his eyes glazed, and she absentmindedly let her fists loosen. He almost flinched back from the surprise at what followed. He felt her palm on his cheek and, although he couldn't say he was displeased with how things evolved, his hand reflexively reached up and grabbed hers.

"What are you doing?" he asked in total confusion.

She shooed his hand away as her own crawled up toward his forehead. "You're hot."

He was torn between trying to close his gaping mouth and cracking up. "That's the first time someone's coming on to me so shamelessly."

An eye roll was her first reply. "Easy there, Casanova," was the second. "You have a fever."

"What?" Kili quickly placed his hand on his forehead. "No, I don't!"

She just gave him a dry look, waiting for the stage of denial to end. The man cursed inwardly. After they scientifically proved that he indeed had a fever with the help of a thermometer –since he was determined to prove her assumption wrong- he was grumpier than a child who was deprived of his dessert.

"Alright," he admitted with chagrin, "I think I'm sick."

"You think?" Arya questioned with wry voice.

He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Do you know how to make soup?"

"Couldn't you buy some when you bought the food you brought here?"

"How could I even know I'd fall ill?"

His voice sounded so strained, it actually managed to pull whatever strings still haunted that cavity in her chest, which apparently wasn't that hollow after all. She let a deep sigh, grudgingly resigned to her fate as his nurse. "What kind of soup?"

* * *

One hour later Kili had taken a warm shower and was now neatly sitting on a chair, in his sweatpants and the t-shirt he had once lent to her, waiting for his food to be served.

"Lamb fillet steak with potatoes for the lady, and chicken soup for the ill."

Kili's nose crinkled in mistrust as he looked at the substance inside the tureen she brought him instead of a plate. "Are you sure this is chicken soup?"

"It's my aunt's recipe," replied Arya. "Give it a try before you get all judgmental."

Secretly dreading what he was about to eat, he took an experimental spoonful and carefully placed it inside his mouth. It had a velvety touch, it was warm and quite tasty. He immediately felt his throat soothing.

"Is it good?"

"Certainly better than the painkillers you overstuffed my mouth with."

Arya let a small sigh. "I gave you only two pills, Kili."

"Those were designed for giants, not normal people!"

"Very well then," she said with finality. "You can go home and take care of yourself with your normal pills, and leave me in my peace."

Evidently, that was enough to make him shut it, although he muttered something under his breath that she failed to hear. He hated being sick, but couldn't deny that it was nice to have someone watching over him. The fact that this view would differ had that someone been his dear mother fussing over his aching head was another matter altogether.

"You have to come up with ways to keep me entertained."

Arya almost dropped both fork and knife on the table. "Excuse me? What am I, the king's fool?"

"No, you're just paying my kindness back. I helped you earlier, so you have to help me now."

Her hold on the knife tightened and a new wave of embarrassment washed over her at the mention of the _help_ he'd offered. "We can watch Hannibal," she suggested. "You could draw inspiration for the murder you're planning to do." His eyes snapped at her, expecting hers to avert or at least lower under his heated gaze, but she maintained eye contact for longer than he gave her credit for.

* * *

Many tormenting hours had passed since the moment His Highness demanded to be entertained; more than eighteen hours or so, and Sunday night was upon them. Apart from small breaks to visit the loo, grab something to eat, take a nap, offer Kili umpteenth glasses of orange juice and painkillers, or -exclusively for him- take a shower to keep the fever at bay, they did nothing else than attentively watch the screen. They ended up binge watching the entire second series in one sitting. On several occasions, Arya insisted that he should rest more and not tire himself out, but he'd trumpet that sleep was for the elderly.

It was during the penultimate episode that they found themselves settled on the couch, Arya crouching and Kili a few inches beside her, splayed over the cushions with a coverlet around him, which she had the prudence to swaddle him with. Well, that, punctuated by the ever so slight sniffling and coughing sounds he made every five seconds. Empty glasses of juice, accompanied by piles of two days' used tissues that lay everywhere and formed small mountains of paper and nasal discharge prompted Arya to deduce that she'd be the one to clean up this mess. Not to mention the odds she'd catch the cold as well were maxed out. Still, despite his constant whining and grumbling, she couldn't bring herself to send him home alone.

She suddenly realised that the sounds he so far produced were replaced by deep breathing and the occasional snore. She didn't know whether or not to feel pleased that his system had finally given up and he fell asleep. A hand stretched towards his forehead; his temperature seemed only mildly lowered.

Kili felt something poking him out of his nap and he opened his eyes to find her hovering over his face.

"Time for bed," her hand gestured towards Fili's room. "You need to sleep. I won't have you get worse and then put all the blame on me," she pointed out. "Goodnight."

With a harrumph Kili sat upright, feeling all the muscles on his back ache terribly. He stood up, but stilled when he realised she'd made no move to follow. "Why aren't you getting up?"

"Why should I?"

He looked at her as though she was missing the overly obvious. "Aren't you coming?"

She looked at him as if he'd grown a second head. "What the-?"

"If I'm going to bed, you're coming with me."

She arched an eyebrow, "Are you suddenly so desperate for my presence around you?"

"Don't flatter yourself," Kili brushed off, pressing the OFF button on the remote and pulling her behind him as he painfully made his way to his brother's room down the hall. "I just need your services."

"See," she mumbled with pursed lips, trying to fight off the impulse to crash his head against the wall, "your proposition would be truly impossible to resist if you weren't a pig and also a bit... drippy... here."

His eyes went wide and, on cue, he sprinted back to the living room to grab the box with the tissues. His glorious return was marked with a blow of his nose of a force that easily matched that of a tornado. With a light thud he plumped down on the bed, face down, taking a few moments to crawl under the sheets and then twist around till his head peeped out and slumped on the plush pillow.

"Comfortable?"

"Not even close," he whispered in dread, pressing his hand over his eyes dramatically. "I can hear my bones creak."

Arya sighed. "What can I do for you?"

"Can you rub that- The ointment thing that smells good on my chest?"

She flashed a wry smile. "Don't you have hands to do it yourself?"

Kili took a glimpse of his arms sprawled on either of his sides and then looked at her. "Exhausted. Can't move them," he breathed dramatically. "Please, fair lady, show some mercy to the ill."

"Oh, now I'll do it!" she sneered.

Then he pulled the big guns.

To add insult to injury, seconds later she was sitting on the bed beside him, and helped his supposedly exhausted hands to take the shirt off. As soon as her eyes took in the bare-chested man, she struggled to swallow straight without choking on her own saliva.

He watched as she took a generous amount out of the small bottle and carefully, lovingly even, started to rub the goopy mess all over his neck and chest. She avoided his eyes, but the blush that made her face flare up naturally did not go unnoticed. And he would be damned if he didn't comment on it.

"Liking what we see, aren't we?"

"I can barely contain myself," came Arya's dry retort. The truth behind it, however, scared the shit out of her. She'd had more physical contact with him in one day than they had since they first met each other. Though perhaps this was the only incentive so she would finally admit her feelings for him, at least to herself.

"It's fine, it's expected," Kili laughed off, sniffling lightly. "Little bit the rubbing, little bit the smell, little bit the very good looking, albeit sick man sitting across from you-"

"Well, somebody sure is smug." She didn't know why or how, but his words had a very weird effect on her. For fuck's sake, her bum was starting to sweat.

"Nothing to be embarrassed about," he casually went on. "Just thought you didn't like men with hairy chests."

That evil bastard. Oh, if he wanted to play rough, they could play rough. Her hand's movements suddenly turned slower, torturingly slower, sensual even, and she lifted her eyes to meet his, staring at him for what seemed like an eternity before deciding to speak.

"I don't care about other men," she said in the same casual manner, giving a little shrug. "At least not in the same way I care about you."

His hand grabbed her forearm in a death grip and made her palm still right above his heart. Both of them felt it miss two or three beats and suddenly begin to pound under his chest.

* * *

**Hope you liked that! Leave a review if you want, it would be greatly appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, lovely readers! Many thanks to all those who followed, favourited and left a review! I'm so sorry there hasn't been an update in the original story yet, it's been three weeks almost, but my exams are rapidly approaching their end, which means there will be a new chapter soon! And it is going to be a goooood one, I promise.**

**Until then, hopefully you will be entertained with this piece. I'm still trying to cheer myself up, so this is again pure fluff, although influenced a bit by A scandal in Belgravia (first episode of the second series of Sherlock). ****You'll see what I'm referring to.**

* * *

_Something less than a year ago_

It was the tenth time Arya wriggled under the thick quilt of the guest bedroom in her flatmate's mum's house and let a furious groan. Not because she was having a nightmare or something; rather because the occupants of the room next to hers had decided to take _things_ to wholly undiscovered levels of volume.

"Have a good night, my arse!" she growled under her breath, remembering what the _charming_ couple wished to everyone before retrieving to the privacy of Kili's room. Seriously, wasn't he even a tiny bit ashamed that he did what he did, while his mother was sleeping two bedrooms away?

The redhead had been the highlight of the night, showing up at the doorstep out of the blue. Kili, in particular, was the most surprised of them all to see her there. Recalling the scene, Arya remembered wanting so badly to punch that stupid grin off of his even stupider face. It wasn't as though they hadn't seen each other for months. For fuck's sake, it had only been two days and they made it seem like they were reuniting after a bloody war.

With a lot of effort -mind you, the concept of 'a lot' is relative and may vary from one individual to another- Arya could justify all this. Yet the only thing she couldn't abide was the noise in the middle of the bloody night. Something more than slowly, she began regretting her decision to accept the invitation to spend the weekend there. The sole reason she had ended up doing that was because Fili's mum had been rather insistent on the phone; not at all because Fili was viciously pinching her sides as they spoke. In the end, however, she decided it'd only be for two and a half days, and they were going to come and go like a feather in the wind. The real question was, why the hell would she ever believe this? Her luck was the absolute proof that whatever could go wrong, would eventually go wrong.

Enter Kili and his ginger girlfriend.

To say that Arya disliked the woman would be a bit of a stretch -they didn't even know each other well enough for starters. As far as Tauriel was concerned, Arya had no opinion whatsoever; hadn't given her any reason to slip into either liking or dislike. But her being with Kili made Arya wonder why would the woman waste her precious hours of life with an arse like him. Also, she couldn't for the life of her figure out why the sight of her and Kili together made her wanna retch her guts out.

Yet enough was enough. It needed a few more groans, punctuated by pleadings for increase of speed and intensity, to get to the end of her tether and have an explosion worse than that of Mount Vesuvius when it destroyed Pompeii.

Tossing the covers aside, she jumped off the bed and crashed her fist against the wall. "Shut up! Shut up! _Shut up!_"

As if the bellowing burst was totally expected, the male voice gained even more tension and rose in volume.

For a brief moment Arya contemplated the possibility of crashing her head on the wall instead of her hand, in order to break herself free from the chains of torture. She decided against it. Her head did not deserve such a fate just because Kili was taking pains to cause her a nervous breakdown. So she did the only thing that came to mind; she went for a walk.

After roaming around the house for the next hour or so, as far away as possible from the second floor where the damn couple was, the walking ghost had ended up in what she thought to be the basement. It was terribly clean and tidy and quite equipped to be a basement, though. It had two huge armchairs, a table, paintings, a stereo, even a pool table. What most drew her attention, though, was a black leather case placed beside the small library.

* * *

Kili observed the bow in her hand swiftly slide over the strings. He'd come down to get some water when he caught noise coming from a part of the house. Not noise that made him fear of robbery; rather noise that caused him a fair amount of surprise. Vivaldi's 'Summer' wasn't the most regular thing someone could hear in the middle of the night. Curiosity led him to the source of the sound and he paused his pace at the doorframe, leaning on it and pinning his eyes on the back of the culprit.

With plaid pyjama shorts and a simple black tank top, on top of playing the violin in the middle of the night, she might as well pass for a mad scientist with a serious case of insomnia and a flair for classical music.

He found himself rapt in thought as he listened to her playing. Oddly, he reckoned the piece quite neatly fit both her and the weather outside -there was a storm brewing and she was exactly like that, ready to explode on the spur of the moment, when it was least expected. And, as though she had it arranged, it finally broke out with a rumbling clap of thunder when she was near presto.

When the piece ended, Arya deposited the violin back to its case and idly made to turn around and resume her aimless roaming around the house. A breath hitched in her throat when she saw someone's figure looming at the door. The surprise she managed to hid well enough just to not give him the satisfaction of having caught her off guard.

"I didn't know you could play the violin," he noted.

He'd be surprised to know the story behind that fact and what led to its premature end, but that was never gonna happen, so the veil of mystery would remain.

"Haven't for several years, in fact," she replied coldly, "hence my numerous slips as you heard, I imagine."

"What is wrong with you?" He actually sounded genuinely concerned as he took a few steps closer. "Why can't you sleep like normal people do?"

"Excuse me?" she said wild-eyed. "How am I supposed to sleep when an orgy takes place in the next room?

"An orgy?" Kili chuckled. "I believe you are misinformed about the interpretation of the term-"

"Oh, bite me," she cut him. "And for the sake of the innocent, unsuspecting people and their ears, if you ever are to share a house with her, please soundproof the hell out of each room or, even better, find a house in the wild where you can moan to your heart's content."

Despite the evident annoyance and offence her words were starting to engender, there was a tiny part of him that wanted to laugh at her irrational outburst. "I don't see anyone else awake and nagging about any noise we made. On the contrary, you're the one playing the violin in the middle of the night. So don't you think you might be overreacting a bit?"

"Overreacting?" she sneered. "I'm surprised no wolves have yet to show up, having mistaken you for their kin!"

"What-?" A flitting thought crossed his mind right then and, despite the jolt in his heart because of it potentially being true, he profoundly chose to ignore it. "Are you jealous or something?"

All the blood drained from her face. Her body went stiff and it suddenly felt like she was trekking a path laid with hidden traps. "Jealous of what?" she growled.

"Don't know," Kili shrugged. "Perhaps because I have a relationship and you don't-"

"I don't have those sorts of complexes, mind you."

"Maybe of her-"

"Her?" she exclaimed with a crazed laugh. "Why? Because she has you? It is actually admirable that in the name of charity and goodwill, she has abided you for this long-"

"Careful not to bite your tongue and get poisoned," he cut her off, the dig effective enough to make her shut it.

He had literally cornered her and Arya was really _not_ enjoying it. She seriously considered the idea of biting off his pointing finger and let him bleed to death, but the step he took forward made her snap back to reality.

His words had miraculously made her shut it. Well, that's a first; he didn't expect it to be so easy. Yet he didn't actually know what to say next. His mind was urging him to fish out anything that could be used against her, although he really doubted he'd actually manage to fish something out of her.

"Perhaps you are jealous of exactly what you said," he guessed with an intense look. He shifted further close to her and she reflexively backed away. "That she has a specific someone you don't."

All the discomfort this close contact was causing her suddenly diminished into nothing and the flagship of her pride was hoisting its mainsail. "If I wanted," she said matter-of-factly, not even blinking, "I would have you right now on that pool table until you begged me for mercy."

Kili struggled to maintain a passive mask upon his face, although in a deep part of him feeling disturbingly aroused by her words and, subsequently, quite ashamed about that. He was with someone, there shouldn't be someone else –especially not her- that made a spot low in his stomach tingle. "If you actually heard us before as you claim, you should know that I'm not the one who begs for mercy."

Arya let a displeased snort. "Please, move," she said scornfully. "This is a constricted space. There isn't enough room for both me _and_ your ego."

* * *

_Present_

"I don't care about other men. At least not in the same way I care about you."

Kili was certain that his cold would transmute into heart failure. There was no way to control his heartbeat, or coerce it to tamp down the beat to normal levels. "Do _you_ have fever?" he asked suspiciously.

"Why, because I care?" Arya shot back. Her hands continued to slowly crawl all over his chest and neck, brushing aside his own that had so far held hers captive. He felt the covers budging as she shuffled closer to him. "Do you find it so absurd?" she laughed under her breath. "Is it wrong to be so mad about you?"

"Are you-" Kili shook his head in disbelief. "Are you quoting Hooverphonic?"

"Quite fitting, isn't it?" she mused with a smile. "You cannot imagine what thoughts I've had about you all these past months."

"I'm sure they've all been exquisitely bad."

She flashed a cheeky smile and he felt the need to stop eye contact so that the situation wouldn't go out of hand.

"Depends on one's perspective of the word," she said.

"So what exactly are these thoughts about, if I may ask?"

"Well, for example... if I ever got the chance, I'd like to sneak in your place before you'd get back from a very tiring day at work. And when you returned you'd be _so_ exhausted, you poor little thing... but I would be there to bathe you, if you wanted me to, and then give you a nice massage- You know how good massages I give, right?"

"Something may have caught my ear, yes."

"I don't get tired very easily, so I would massage you everywhere," she continued with a twinkle in her eyes, and voice low and seductive. "Where your muscles would feel sore... or anywhere else you'd like me to touch you."

Goosebumps formed on his skin as her fingers caressed his biceps. All his blood had surely drained from his face by now, and he cursed himself that it had to start pooling in his groin. He didn't know where she was going with this, but whatever she was playing at, his body made sure he'd lose.

"... does it sound good so far?"

He suppressed a groan at the back of his throat, the slight discomfort somewhere south starting to become evident –well, slight... that's putting it mildly. "One might say so."

"Mmm, I figured," she sighed. "But after those good thoughts, there come the bad ones. The _very_ bad ones."

"Oh." His interest was piqued to the maximum. "Do tell." A breath hitched in his throat as she leaned closer.

"Ah, the things I would do to you then..." she purred in his ear, and he felt her hot breath tickling him rather torturingly. "You wouldn't be able to wiggle even a toe afterwards."

"Who's the smug one now?" Kili managed to mutter, struggling to contain himself. He deserved a bloody medal for his restraint. "Let me guess, you would have me until I begged you for mercy?"

"Until you begged for mercy _twice_," Arya noted simply, one hand gently resting on his shoulder and the other slowly sliding down his torso. "So... would you like me to try it out?"

His head might have slightly bobbed in what she supposed to be a positive nod, but she couldn't be sure. His eyes were burning holes in hers and his whole body was stiff, as though someone was whipping him and all his muscles tensed up with every strike.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that," she breathed against his jawline in her most innocent voice, her face an inch away from his as the tips of her fingers rubbed small circles across his abdomen. "Would you like me to try?" she repeated more insistently.

Flares and fireworks, oceans colliding, gigantic black holes- Kili's brain had gone into overdrive; he couldn't compute. He swallowed the lump that had taken up residence in his throat, convinced that the end of the world was milliseconds away. "M- Maybe," he stammered, the southern discomfort growing worse by the second. Bless his luck, the quilt was there to hide any sign of potential humiliation.

Arya allowed the smile on her face to turn into a full broad grin. "Sucker."

A wild blush made his face flare up then and his eyes almost hurled fire at her. He couldn't decide what of the following two he was more, embarrassed or furious. In the end he settled for both. "You little-"

She flashed a wicked smirk. "That'll teach you not to mess with me."

"You are _so_ gonna regret that."

"Yeah, yeah, save your strength for when that time comes," she ignored the heated glare, "and try to get some sleep now."

* * *

Two hours had passed since the moment her tremendous acting performance came to an end, and Arya had yet to even experience the first signs of sleepiness. Her nervous gaze fell on the mound beside her that slept soundly. She placed a hand on his forehead, trying her best not to wake him, and with a small sigh of relief noted that he didn't have a fever. She fixed the fluffy quilt to cover him better and let a long, weary sigh. If she were careful and made no noise, she could crawl out of bed and go to her own bedroom or go watch something-

"Don't even think about it," a hoarse voice and a strong hand around her arm made her trail of thoughts falter.

With eyes wide in surprise, she cocked her head at him. "For fuck's sake, Yoda, can you read my thoughts now? What, do you have a wire inside my head?"

"No," Kili mumbled drowsily, "just the fact that you're wiggling your toes for the past two hours, coupled with the sighs you let every other minute, and it does not take long to make a deduction."

"Damn you. Come on," she whined impatiently, trying to get him to let her go, "I can't sleep and I'm bored. I need to do something."

"Agree," he murmured, not even bothering to open his eyes. "You need to tend the ill."

"I did, and the whole weekend for that matter. He is very comfortably lying on the bed and should be sleeping right now." In vain she tried to pull her arm away from his. The grip he had on her forearm was so strong, it felt like someone had cemented them together.

Suddenly, he cracked an eye open. Even with one eye, the puppy look had its effect. She felt ashamed of herself.

"What if I die in my sleep?"

"For the love of God," Arya burst in exasperation, "it's just a cold!"

"Just a cold?"

"Men are such babies," she said with another tired sigh. "On the first day of my period, I can't even get up from the bed and you tell me you can't stand a little fever?"

"It's not the same!" he protested.

"Of course it's not the same!" she agreed. "Fever is easier!"

"How is it easier?"

"Well, I don't see the bloody Niagara Falls coming out of you every month!"

Even half-asleep, Kili couldn't resist blurting out a delighted chuckle. She found herself entranced by the sound.

"No need to be so descriptive," he said with a wide yawn.

Before Arya could reply he pulled the quilt over to cover her as well and rolled over on his side, effectively trapping her under half his body.

If the surprise of the movement wasn't the dominating feeling inside her, it would be embarrassment. "Uh... hello?"

Yet Kili only resolved to give a small sigh of contentment as a response. "Man alive," he muttered, "the bed and the pillows are instruments of torture compared to you." She was all soft and plump in a particular spot upon which his head currently resided and, under other circumstances, he would worship like a pilgrim that sought the beacon of light and had finally found it.

Arya gritted her teeth in mortification. She had no intention of being violated like a plushy. "Kili," she growled, "you're squashing... _things_!"

"Come on, you big faker," came the wry reply, "as if you don't like it."

Her whole body stiffened as anger began to boil inside her. "You know I can deprive you of the opportunity to have children in the future, right?" she mused loudly, budging her knee to point out how close it lay to a part of his body that was meant to be treated nicely by women.

"Alright, alright," he grumbled, "I'll shut up if you shut up and let us both sleep."

She took a deep breath and held it for a few long seconds, before exhaling loudly. "At least try to breathe through your nose. I'd really appreciate it if there weren't any stains of drool or mucus on me in the morning."

"As m'lady commands," Kili cocked his head to the side, probably nodding in compliance with the terms she had set, and was out in less than five minutes.

The way in which he addressed her made her toes curl more than it was socially acceptable for a woman her age. _Calm yourself, woman_, the rational voice in her mind shouted at her. It was just a damn quote from Game of Thrones and she was getting quite fidgety for no reason at all.

One of the best privileges singles all around the world had at their disposal was the ability to spread across a bed like an octopus. Arya held it in very high esteem. And now it felt fairly odd to share a bed with someone who, instead of sprawling himself to his heart's content, chose to cuddle up next to –or rather on top of- her. It wasn't unpleasant, not even remotely. If she were honest with herself, she liked it quite a lot.

Her shoulders suddenly fell when it hit her that she liked it to such a degree only because it was him occupying the space above and next to her. A whimper almost escaped her mouth then; she was ridiculous. Of their own accord, as though they had no connection whatsoever with her stupefied brain, one of her hands came to stroke his hair and the other started to draw lazy patterns across his back and the arm he had around her middle. It felt terribly weird and odd to be able to do that –_she_ to _him_\- and it made her wonder if this was the only chance she would ever get to be so close to him.

Bloody thoughts.

Naturally, she didn't even get an hour of sleep. Not until the early hours of morning came and found her in the same position, with a snuffly Kili blissfully napping on top of her like a log.

* * *

**As I told you, I needed to cheer myself up, that's why this pointless fluff. Please, review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, dear readers! I have been sleeping for almost three days in a row after my exams and have no intention to break that wonderful tradition, so I will continue doing it for the next week or so (it is actually a miracle that this was written). Many thanks to all of you who followed, favourited and left a review! I'm so happy you like the modern version as well, because it was something I was just fiddling with in my spare time and it may turn out to have some potential :)**

**In this one we're mainly exploring the morning after and it is mostly fluff -weird, eh?- _again_, because I have stuff planned for the future that are no fluffy at all. If things go as planned, there will be major drama ahead.**

* * *

Arya was unable to settle down for sleep. Yet that inability of hers wore thin as time went by. All her muscles started to ache and she felt her body grow heavier by the second -not to mention her eyelids.

It was weird, the present situation. She felt content and uncomfortable at the same time; wanted to remain as such and all the while push Kili away to sleep with all the comfort the bed offered her.

No, this wasn't right; it might feel right, but it wasn't. Her personal status was solitude, by default. And she felt perfectly comfortable with it. At least she had quite successfully convinced herself that the people that surrounded her were better off without her buzzing around their heads and burdening them with her troubles, when they already had their own. And now... her gut told her that she was the one who was going to be disappointed and harshly pulled back to reality in the morning, not Kili. This didn't mean anything for him, and his alarmingly kind and close-contact behaviour was possibly nothing more than fever delirium. All men were such babies when they got sick and needed someone over their heads to constantly keep an eye on them. Why would Kili be an exception? She was nothing more to him than a temporary nurse and he'd return to his state of dislike when he got better -sure as hell.

The negation party would have probably come victorious out of this inner conflict, _if_ she had been able to keep her eyes open and continue mulling over this to an exhaustive degree. Yet thinking too hard tired her brain out and made it seek out a few hours of necessary rest. Not that they'd be productive, since her brain had the actual ability to never stop thinking excessively through every single matter even while sleeping. Still, it was worth a shot.

* * *

The sniffles did not let Kili enjoy sleep as much as he would've liked to. Many a time he was dragged away from the dreamland and briefly returned to reality, only to discover that his living mattress was fully awake and also nervous, if he had to venture a guess. The latter he concluded from the fact that she wouldn't stop wiggling her toes and subsequently shake the bed a tiny bit.

He was surprised, though, when he felt a hand stroking his hair and the other drawing patterns on his back and the arm he was hugging her with. His mouth curled in a sleepy smile and he lazily rubbed her side with his thumb; or so he thought in his practically unconscious state.

It was much, much later that he emerged from yet another dream and realised she'd finally dozed off. Her breathing was practically untraceable and he lifted his head with a worried look, facing her placid face. Worry made his brow crease and he moved to check her pulse to certify that she was actually breathing. Then he abandoned the bed to take another of those huge painkillers she'd been stuffing him with the past two days.

Upon his return he found Arya huddled up in a quite peculiar position on her side, facing the nightstand, her brow crinkled as she slept. He crawled under the covers and lay behind her, careful not to wake her up, noting the light tremor of her body. Concern gripped him once again -he started to believe she had eventually caught the cold as well. But when the back of his hand touched her cheek, he found that she was quite cool. So, no, she had no fever. The second guess he took was that she was having a nightmare. Yet she was fairly quiet regarding that aspect. If she was having one, she was suffering it in relative silence.

Kili didn't know what to do. Should he... comfort her in some way? It wasn't his area of expertise, really. He tentatively stretched out a hand towards her arm, but before he could touch her she gave a twitch, and he retrieved it. Just then, her t-shirt was creased from the abrupt movement and lowered around the back of her neck, revealing the tip of something very interesting. It could be seen due to the light that managed to creep into the room through the huge windows on the wall.

It was- It seemed like...

Curiosity got the better of him.

This time his hand did not hesitate to reach out and slightly tug at the fabric, while the other carefully pulled her hair out of the way, making a most astounding discovery. There it was, right between her shoulder blades, with calligraphic letters; a tattoo. For an unearthly reason, it made him crack a faint smile. His eyes squinted as he tried to read the letters under the dim light the city offered through the windows. After a significant attempt he was finally able to discern that it said 'What goes around comes around.'

It was a rather simple design, save the calligraphic letters, and he found it quite... He felt deeply ashamed of himself for that and- Oh, to hell with it. Yes, it was hot.

A desperate huff escaped his lips as his hand abandoned her t-shirt and slumped on the bed. It felt like someone was playing drums somewhere between his ears and for a brief moment he thought fever would strike back more ardent than before. In the end, however, the correct deduction of his emotions was 'frustration', because he had missed his opportunity for further physical contact with her. He couldn't possibly shift her around and resume his sleep on her, that'd be ridiculous. And here, he couldn't help but wonder why on earth would he want to prolong the moments of physical contact with her. And the answer bloody frightened the bejesus out of him.

No, he decided, he couldn't deal with this right now. For it would deprive him of good hours of sleep that he seriously needed.

As stealthy as a cat he scooted a little farther away from the sleeping figure beside him, using his arms as an extra pillow. Only to be minutes later caught off guard by a river of hair flipping across his face and entering eyes, nose, and mouth alike. And that was all because the curled ball of a human next to him apparently decided to reclaim its late majestic grandeur and secure a place in the pantheon of starfishes. With no warning whatsoever she had shifted closer without changing sides, seeing as she still faced away from him, her arm thrown backwards over his torso and her head now resting right below his folded arm.

Kili let a frustrated whimper. With an elementary amount of difficulty so as not to risk waking her, one of his hands carefully placed the hair tornado above her head to free his field of vision and breathing. Well, at least it smelled nice.

It took a rather significant amount of time for her to calm down completely, and she was wriggling quite nervously till that blessed moment came.

He had no problem admitting it anymore, at least to himself -he could definitely get used to this. All joking aside, and no matter the frequent hair flip, he realised that the current sleeping arrangements worked just fine for him. Also, another part of his body with its _relatively_ own will agreed to that realisation very eagerly, although he'd be damned if he allowed it to showcase its agreement. God forbid if he did. Decapitation would be atonement in that case.

It took all his willpower for his mind to win the trial against his body. With these unnerving thoughts he fell back into a slumber, tightening the covers around them.

* * *

A phone buzzing brutally pulled the brunet out of his blissful dreamworld and he tried to push his eyes open. It was impossible to say the least. After a few seconds of intense effort, they managed to open in tiny slits, not allowing whatever light sneaked into the room from the eastern window to blind him.

The phone kept buzzing insistently. He didn't remember to have put it into vibrate mode.

And then came the realisation.

It was not his phone.

Stretching his neck up, his eyes opened a little more and he faced Arya's phone continuing to buzz silently on the nightstand. She, on the other hand, had not budged even an inch, still fast asleep. Carefully he reached out a hand and saw the name of the one who dared to disturb her already troubled sleep at this ungodly hour.

It was not in his character to answer someone else's phone unless he was permitted to, but in this case thought it wise to end the annoying buzz as fast as possible, just to not disturb her nap. Plus the caller wasn't someone he was unfamiliar with.

"Hey-"

"_Thank God, you're still alive,_" Fili's chirpy voice boomed. "_Is my prat of a brother ali- Who's this?_" he asked as soon as he realised the voice did not belong to his flatmate.

"It's your prat of a brother," Kili muttered drowsily, his eyes already half-closed again –not that they had been fully open before, but anyway.

"_Why are you answering her phone?_" Fili demanded worriedly. "_What did you do to her?_"

Kili shifted to lay on his back, withdrawing his face and mouth as far from her ear as possible. "She's asleep," he appeased. "As I was for that matter, you wanker. Who calls at-" he shot a glance at the hour, then his sleepy voice turned into a grumbling drawl, "_six thirty_ in the bloody morning?"

"_The one who's stuck in uncle's house and wants you to email me some pa- Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up there,_" he paused for a second. "_What do you mean 'asleep'? How do you know she's asleep? And what are you doing with her phone?_"

Kili could almost see the expression on his brother's face. His mind was forming the image of him as they spoke, and it was priceless. "I mean that she's sleeping, obviously," he repeated in a vexed whisper. "I know because she's right here next to me, and I answered because she managed to sleep only two hours ago and you, idiot, almost woke her-"

"_Next to you?_" a disbelieving yelp came from the other side of the line.

"Mmm."

"_Seriously, now? You expect me to believe that?_"

"Mm-hmm," the brunet murmured, almost on the verge of dozing off again.

"_You mean to tell me that you actually slept together?_"

Kili groaned in annoyance at the piercing sound of Fili's peal right into his ear.

"_Yeah, as if!_" said the blond with a wry laugh. "_I wager my ball-_"

Before his brother could say something he would deeply regret in the future Kili hung up and put her phone back on the nightstand. Not lingering much and just because he was dying to get one more hour of sleep, he grabbed his own phone, took a picture and texted it to Fili.

* * *

Hot tea came out of Fili's nose, but it was _totally_ worth it. He couldn't figure out whether this was reality, or the reality of a parallel universe. Evidence certainly pointed towards the second. And by evidence, he meant the glorious picture his brother had just texted him.

He was _so_ gonna frame it. It could also be used as blackmail material, under the threat that he would hang it on the wall at the office for everyone to see. His gut itched for him to show it to somebody, but he imagined uncle Thorin wouldn't find his source of laughter as funny.

The overwhelming amount of bawdy comments that currently queued in his head was killing the blond, and he wished he could remember each one of them to tease the pair _every hour_ of _every day_ for the whole next year.

But then his eyes spotted something that made them bulge and prompted another mouthful of tea to be sprayed out of both nose and mouth this time.

* * *

Another buzzing sound came in the next minute and roused Kili from his very brief slumber as he felt the vibration in his hand. It was a text this time.

_Fili: Is that my bloody bed? WTF did you do on my bed?_

Before Kili had time to even wiggle his thumb there came another text.

_Fili: U know what, don't tell me. I don't wanna know. Just put the sheets in an autoclave before I come back._

A muffled chortle drowned in his throat and Kili dropped the phone next to the pillows, eager to resume his delightful snooze. He knew he'd be cranky if he didn't. It might have taken him something less than two minutes to fall back asleep.

* * *

An hour later the patient woke for good this time, snugly covered under the quilt, with the distant sound of music coming from somewhere in the house. He cracked a whole eye open this time –well, that's a miracle- trying to take in his surroundings, and looked around the room; he was alone. He made to sit up straight, yet a shadow suddenly formed on the floor of the hallway and the figure to which the shadow belonged made appearance and had him freeze on the spot.

He saw Arya flouncing from her room to the bathroom with knickers and towel in hand, the flounce part of the little dance she was making, and his mind literally erased the process of breathing. Apparently, she was fairly comfortable with being in the buff; made sense actually, if she was to take a shower. Although she probably had no idea that he was awake and perving on her, or rather that he was able to watch her from that spot on the bed. Blame Fili for positioning the bed directly on the opposite of the door and the hallway. And here, he couldn't help but wonder if Fili had ever had the fortuitous chance to accidentally see her like this. The brunet's face wrinkled in disgust –he seriously hoped not.

The sound of running water was heard and Kili let a sigh of relief. Torture-time was over. But my, oh my, even that tiny glimpse of her was seriously going to haunt every single of his dreams from now on. He quickly shook his head and averted his gaze from where her figure had once been. For god's sake, he was turning into a lecher.

* * *

Too distraught by the music, Arya had no idea that Kili had been all awake and conscious as she danced her way across the hall from her room to the bathroom.

His head slumped heavily on the pillow thinking that he had to drag himself across the room and dress up to go to work. He was sick, for fuck's sake, didn't he deserve a day off? He did. And he would have taken it, had his beloved brother actually been there to go to work and not burden a sick man with the task. Arya was also unavailable, considering it was a Monday morning, hence one of the worst.

Speak of the devil, she seemed to be done with the bathroom's occupancy. As expected, a minute or two after the sound of running water ceased she made appearance again, this time with a bathrobe wrapped around her –_thank God_, or else Kili would have to take a bloody cold shower in a while.

The music took a sudden turn, but she wasn't deterred and began to dance anew. The sight made Kili purse his lips in amusement. He didn't know if this was her default mode or something that rarely emerged, but right now he could understand why Fil had once said that sharing a house with that woman was like being an extra in a Michael Jackson video clip.

Slowly he crept out of the bed and walked up to the door where he leaned on the doorcase, crossing his arms over his chest and watching her with great interest just stroll about and groove on the music. She continued for another two minutes or so, until her steps brought her closer to him, with her back turned.

"Morning."

The surprised, quite frightened yelp she unsuccessfully tried to suppress pierced his ears the moment his smug voice disrupted her dancing bliss and also balance. She lost her footing and would soon be taking a magnificent tumble backwards that'd be the source of jokes for the next few weeks hadn't something solid and less hard than the ground interrupted her route.

"Is this your idea of revenge?" she exclaimed with wide eyes. "To scare the crap out of me?"

Kili shot her a pointed look as he helped her back to her feet, noting, "The transition from 80's to Macklemore is truly beyond me."

"How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough to say," he trailed off and, unable to hold back longer, burst into song, "_what a feeling, being's believin'__..._" Which was accompanied by some sick moves that even Travolta would envy.

Arya certainly did. Damn him. Still, she did her best to appear unaffected; only her flushed face showcased the inner rant of curses that went through her mind. "How much did you see?" she growled, squeezing the bathrobe even tighter around her.

"Unfortunately," Kili admitted in a voice that he almost congratulated himself on how much dismay it conveyed, effectively concealing his true feelings, "a lot more than we'd both like to know."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed that! Leave a review if you want, they are really appreciated!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, my dear readers! Many thanks to all those who read, followed, favourited or left a review, you truly make my day brighter! As for the original story, it will most likely be updated on Friday or Saturday, regarding which I would like to apologise for the lack of a new chapter, but there has been an issue with a sunburn that is the root of all the trouble and delay.**

* * *

Kili had eyed her for a very long minute before she stormed off to her room, and he resumed his foregone morning visit to the bathroom. Vaguely he registered her grumbling something about office, and the sound of the door closing followed immediately afterwards. It didn't take long to figure out she was off to work.

Memories of the last night sneakily crept back into his mind. She had played her part very well; dangerously well, that is, and the southern discomfort he'd experienced was concrete proof of it. But two could play this game. He wouldn't use the same underhanded method, of course, because it'd be quite cliché to copy it, plus there was a high chance she'd figure it out rather soon. No... He was going to use another one that would seal her embarrassing defeat and crown him winner.

It was weird, he thought, that such an idea crossed his wicked mind at that moment in that place. He had read somewhere that people could get really focused and concentrate while brushing their teeth, but it had never happened to him before. Usually during these morning hours, he was just struggling with himself to get his eyes simply open. Of course the hot water that splashed across his face did most of the work.

Yet he reckoned the matter haphazardly, without the woman into whose net of charm he had fallen.

* * *

Walking hurriedly across the small path that separated the offices from the studio, Arya was totally oblivious to the slippery paper -a random piece of glossy paper that had landed on the floor- in front of her, her focus alternating between her watch and the door of the aforementioned room. She had run late. She had said she'd be out for ten minutes and ended up missing for thirty.

Yet it was her, so there naturally had to be an obstacle to hinder her effort to reach the damn door. Her boot stepped upon the fallen page and the next thing she knew, her body was gravitating towards the floor, her purse and small bag that were previously in her hand now flying everywhere around her head. As expected, the contents were out in the world.

As soon as her body became horizontal and she found herself French-kissing the beloved floor, a groan of annoyance left her mouth. It was gonna be a _long_ day; especially since the morning had begun so badly.

But then... Then it got worse.

"Well, somebody obviously missed me a lot," a laughing voice remarked. "We were together almost two hours ago. I'm very touched that you've missed me so much, but running in a workplace like the wind to crawl on my feet is a bit of a stretch."

The smug tone of the very known voice made her nerves tense up like taut live wires. Her eyes rose a few inches, the first thing they saw being a pair of shoes that led up to trousers and a jumper, underneath which hid legs and, in general, a very well-built body that could easily rival the statues of the ancient Greek gods. Her gaze fell to the floor beneath her again, an angry whimper leaving her mouth. Of all people in the bloody building...

Dreading the repercussions of her little trip, she hauled herself up to her feet and finally came face to face with the speaker. Dark eyes collided violently with his hazel ones, and she felt her stomach twist at the sight of his roguish smirk. Though that hadn't come without a convoy. Another man, standing right beside Kili, was looking at her with amused eyes, barely able to hold back a chortle.

"You shouldn't spend so much time in the penthouse of the skyscraper your ego resides," Arya commented dryly. "Too harmful for your modesty, _if_ you are familiar with the term. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have more important work to do than crawl on your feet."

With that, she gathered her stuff from the ground and prepared herself for a most graceful, dignified exit.

Yet both fate _and_ Kili had other plans.

"Oh," he called from behind her back, "and I like your knickers by the way."

That had her dead in her tracks, mind working feverishly to mentally check if her jeans had lowered during the sublime tumble. They hadn't. Which only meant-

Kili watched as she furiously swiveled around, a wild look on her face, and realised that the other bag she was holding still lay on the floor, along with its pink, lacy contents. Yum, yum.

For a brief moment there, the unnerving thought of who she bought that for crossed his mind and a shadow clouded his face. Then again, if she was seeing someone, Fili would certainly know. And he would subsequently have extracted that information as well.

"I know you're dying to give me a taste of your new underwear," he went on, the smug grin still plastered on his face and his voice alarmingly innocent, "but I'm still not over with that of this morning."

All these quips did a perfect job riling her; she was fifty shades of purple with rage. If she followed her instincts, there was great chance to get her ass fired -sued even. Thus she only limited to throw a guttural sound –something along the lines of a snarl- at him, grab the bag with the underwear, and shove herself inside the studio to spare him a castration.

"Are you two...?" a voice asked and Kili turned to face his friend that gestured between him and the door that just shut.

The brunet just rolled his eyes. "Please," he scoffed, as though what was being implied was absurd. "That was payback for something." Further detail regarding what this something involved was completely unnecessary.

"Are you sure?" Luke said in disbelief. "I didn't see her very humiliated."

Kili smirked. "She's probably learnt not to let it show since last year-"

"Whoa, whoa, you tell me there's someone who's managed to stand undaunted by your sardonic comments for a whole year? Well, that's a first," his friend laughed. "The woman is a hero."

And in a fraction of a second, the smirk abandoned Kili's face and gave its place to an irritated scowl. A sinister feeling was starting to fester his insides that telling Luke there was no problem if he attended the meeting while waiting for him hadn't been very wise, or fortunate.

* * *

"Fil says he won't be back until tomorrow evening," a snuffly voice broke the news over her shoulder in a whisper as they queued outside the conference room.

The woman shook her head absentmindedly, focused more on browsing the folder with the photos in her hands than those behind her.

"So," the voice suddenly deepened, yet its volume rose as he leaned far too close over her shoulder, his mouth almost touching the tip of her ear, "will I get to see the contents of that bag on you tonight?"

The comment drew some unwanted -or wanted, depending on one's perspective- attention from the three people in front of them, who dared to take a glimpse of the two and muffle their giggles behind their hands or folders.

So this was his revenge for last night? To embarrass her in front of everyone? Very funny, not to mention smart... for a six-year-old, perhaps. "Cut it out," Arya growled under her breath, "or, I swear, I'll put laxative in your coffee and lock you in a room without a toile-"

"Hello," another voice disrupted the quiet threat she was ready to spat.

Two heads belonging to Arya and Kili respectively snapped up in surprise.

"It's an honour to meet one of the few women who've tolerated this rambunctious little prat," said a tall man with a smile as he pointed at Kili.

"I'm right here," Kili protested and was promptly ignored.

Arya initially scanned the unknown man's face, wondering if he was actually addressing her, and cracked a wicked smile after shooting a quick glance at the brunet behind her. "Only my poor mind and soul know how I've survived the past year and a half."

Kili faked an amused laugh and reflexively placed his hands on her shoulders. "This is Arya, one of our photographers." He saw her stretch out her hand and made the introductions, "And this is Luke, family friend since... I can't even remember," he said with an air of exasperated fondness one usually applied to the old and incredibly surly dog one's uncle -namely Thorin- has owned from time immemorial.

Arya gave him a sympathetic head tilt. "Am I talking to another tortured soul who has endured hurricane 'Kili', and for more than two years?"

"Hey, I'm still right here!" Kili protested more eagerly.

"Both you and Fili should be hallowed," Arya told Luke seriously, both profoundly ignoring the whining voice next to them.

Kili abandoned his place behind her and started to wave his hands between them to get their attention. "Can you people not see or hear me?"

"Yes, Kili," Arya sighed, "we can hear you. We can also see that you're a little drippy here," she gestured towards his nose. "Better wipe this up. Wouldn't want to get embarrassed in front of everyone, would you?"

And with a grin she left the jolly conversation and went to stand against the wall on the opposite of the two flipcharts, one of which was bound to become the cover for this month's issue.

Kili was in no way deterred by a snide comment that she thought to mark his defeat. What she was using against him, he'd use it in his favour. "Alright, people, as you see my nose is leaking and fever is likely to take me over in a while," he announced on his way to the head of the table, earning a few laughs. "You are less likely to get contaminated if we get this over with as soon as possible."

* * *

There was a moment every now and then that Arya could feel eyes on her. Eyes belonging to someone she had met less than an hour ago. It made her feel fairly weird. Very unlike how she felt when it was Kili's gaze pinned on her. This time it was less heated, though equally intense. Although it empowered her that the owner of those new eyes might think her attractive –female vanity be damned- it also irked her.

Not that he wasn't her type. It'd be a great lie if she said she didn't find him attractive. Because he was; attractive and quite charming from what she'd seen so far. He had a more than nice face, brown eyes and short, dark hair. All in all, a dapper bloke.

Yet it did no impression on her whatsoever. Not when there was the brunet, scruffy, brooding smartarse standing on her opposite and stewing in his own juices while he spoke. How or _why_ he had transformed from the usual ray of sunshine into a dark cloud of gloom, ready to pour a storm on the first unsuspecting person to offer a polite greeting, was beyond her. Perhaps it was the cold that made him cranky. Perhaps not.

In any case, Arya liked to think that she was quite an independent human being; seldom in distress and, whenever that happened, she took great care to keep it under her hat. But there was something about that living cloud of gloom on her opposite, the way his eyes now raked over her form, that made her want him to dominate her, suppress her rebellious personality and take charge. Yet every time he'd been so close to do it, her brain had rebelled against her heart and hadn't let her be defeated. Perhaps she was afraid to let him do it. Perhaps she was afraid she'd like it a mighty lot if he did it.

A sudden gush of blood racing to her head led to her face flaring up when she pondered on the second of the two categories her fear might belong to.

That blush did not pass unnoticed. Mainly from the two people who were looking at her right that moment, whose current sentiments totally differed, and for outright opposite reasons. Luke happily thought his intense look was the cause of her blush, Kili grudgingly agreed with him and, finally, Arya felt as though she was amid gunfire -which in fact she'd rather be.

She made the mistake of giving a short glance over at Luke, her eyes reflexively hardening as she coerced her face to look the normal pale colour. He, in turn, made the even worse mistake of giving her a frank smile, and her eyes went wide. Why would she even look at him in the first place? There were a dozen people in the room, why would her gaze fall on him? Quite flustered, she averted her eyes, not even bothering to grace him with a tiny curl of her mouth, let alone a full smile.

Luke found the sight quite amusing. His first instinct was that she might be into him, judging by her odd, yet quite endearing reactions every time their eyes met.

Somebody else, on the other hand, looked like he was possessed by a demon. It was truly a miracle he hadn't yet jerked out of his seat, grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the room, so that no one would check her out, or even attempt to stare at her somewhat suggestively. Not that his friend was the kind of man who would have his wicked way with her and wouldn't get to see her again. Quite the opposite, he was very decent. And Kili couldn't for the life of him fathom where all these worrisome thoughts and protective instincts towards her stemmed from, or perhaps he was obstinately refusing to even acknowledge their cause, but they were roused for good; quite unnerving and unreasonable thoughts, such as that neither Luke nor anyone had any right to make eyes at her.

That was it, Kili decided, he was losing it.

* * *

"How old are you?"

Arya stole a glance over her shoulder at the person standing there and scoffed. "I'm fifty two," she said dryly, "unless it's relevant."

"I must say," Luke said with a wry smile, "you're holding up surprisingly well."

"Oh, thank you. It's this cream I have, you see," she played along, "really works wonders."

He finally cracked and couldn't help but laugh. She didn't like that he ended their banter so soon. Arya was all about the banter.

"No, but seriously, you look quite young to have been assigned so much," he said as the crowd slowly scattered to their respective offices after the meeting ended.

Arya merely quirked an eyebrow, yet didn't bother to look him straight in the eye until she was all set to go. "Then I must be good at what I'm doing," she shrugged, "or so some people think."

"Undoubtedly."

"I still fail to see how being young is relevant, though," she added thoughtfully, then gave another little shrug. "What I may lack in age, I definitely make up for in advice about food. You'd be surprised how important it is to some people. And that's where I come in."

"Trust me, having spent two whole years in France has taught me quite a lot about the importance of that. Pretty sure we'd make a good team, if you're looking for a business partner," he said with an all too charming smile, and she smiled back.

Or so he thought. It was an awkward smile, in fact, on Arya's part, because she had no idea what to reply, or where he was going with this. It didn't take more than a second for her eyes to change an object of attention. They absentmindedly –alright, with a tiny bit of intention thrown in- roamed about the now almost empty room and landed on the tall man that was gathering his stuff from the table but almost immediately had to drop it back in order to blow his runny nose.

"...so what do you think?"

She twisted her neck so fast to look at the man in front of her that she felt a bit dizzy. "Sorry, what?"

"Will you have lunch with us?" he repeated.

"'Us'?"

There was a short break of communication, Luke suspected. "Me and Kili," he explained. "We're going for lunch. Want to join?"

Despite the inner flutter caused by a giant bubble of awkwardness that settled in her stomach, she tried to remain poised. "Oh, I'm sorry, I've got work to do."

He seemed a bit disappointed by the rejection.

Under other circumstances Arya perhaps would feel a tad of regret, but then her mind let his words soak in for good. "Is Kili actually going for lunch like this?" she inquired with a raised eyebrow. "Someone should inform all restaurants to commence evacuation. He's already spread enough nasal discharge here."

Luke blurted out a laugh, though mentally wondered why the fuss. He had heard their small exchanges before and they were enough for anyone to conclude that those two must have been quite at odds from time to time. Yet there was actual concern hidden behind Arya's look, even if her sarcastic comments contradicted it.

"I'll not let him order anything other than soup," he appeased, "don't worry."

Eyes automatically snapped at his and hardened. "I'm not worried about him," Arya objected. "Rather the innocent, unsuspecting people who walk down the road, blissfully unaware of the danger of close contact with the mobile germ-disseminator over there."

That's right, she had some standards to maintain. No one needed to know that she was actually worried about him. She and Kili were supposed to be mortal enemies, not worried about each other- A snort escaped her mouth at this. _She_ was worried about him, her mind corrected. She doubted he reciprocated the feeling. And those roles weren't likely to change soon.

Apparently, talking about someone for a while inevitably drew their attention. As if that certain someone wasn't already glowering at the two of them as they discussed.

"Well, hello there," she said with a disturbingly sweet smile when he approached them. "Need to be nursed today as well, or will you manage on your own?"

Kili quirked an eyebrow. "I'll make you the honour of taking care of me only if you wear what was in that bag."

His friend laughed to himself as the new round of barbs began, though he wasn't so sure anymore if the conflict between these two was as hateful as they opted for it to seem.

The flitting urge to smack him upside the head disappeared as quickly as it was roused and Arya shook her head in resignation. "Nope. This is my fault. I was just trying to be polite and you-" She sighed. "As I said, my fault. Enjoy your lunch, you two, and it was very nice meeting you, Luke."

The man smiled at her and without saying anything to Kili, she marched out of the room, folders and photos in hand, looking over her shoulder to check if they were following. As soon as the two men were out in the hall and headed towards the stairs, Arya grabbed Kili's arm and made his step falter. If he wanted a war, he would have it.

"The bag along with its contents is a birthday gift for a friend," she whispered in his ear. "FYI, pink is in no way my colour. Black is." Then he actually felt her lips curl into a smile against his skin. "Oh, and I usually wear the whole packet... you know, stockings, suspenders- Anyway," she dismissed, patting him pointedly and a bit too forcefully on his back, "enjoy your lunch."

As she uttered those sentences his body had frozen on the spot, his eyes two dilated bulbs of surprise and palpable doubt that this was actually happening. Then her figure disappeared from his side and he could see her swiftly stroll back to the studio. Still, the words had made quite an impact, seeing as the mental image of her dressed in the... _clothing_ she mentioned was surgically planted into his brain.

Needless to say, Kili's southern discomfort struck back.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed that! Kili is one saucy minx, don't you think? ****Don't forget to review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, guys! Haven't seen you in a while, hope you're doing great! I have yet to recover from the teaser trailer for BoFA and cannot possibly describe how much I've been drooling over Kili with armour on. He's absolutely stunning.**

**Many thanks to those who followed, favourited or left a review, you make me a happy human being!**

**Unfortunately there isn't much Kili featured in this chapter, except through phone calls and flashbacks, but there will be lots of him in those to come, I promise! There is lots of Luke, though. In my mind he looks like Pedro Pascal (the guy who played the utterly awesome Oberyn Martell in GoT) who I completely adore.**

**The cover of 'Wicked game' in Arya's playlist is that from James Vincent McMorrow. Absolutely breathtaking, if I may say so.**

* * *

The thought of her had been nagging his mind for the past few weeks. She'd made a rather unforgettable impression that first time they met, not so much by taking a tumble in front of his and Kili's feet, rather their subsequent exchange. He had an inherent appreciation for spirited people and she seemed like a bouncy little thing. Well, not a little thing, to be honest -5' 7" could not be described with the word 'little', for a woman at least. Yet next to his 6' 2", she naturally looked smaller. Quite fit as well.

In numerous instances those past weeks Luke had seen her, she'd linger in his thoughts even after she walked away. And this was driving him crazy. Not in a bad way. It was a simple mind game -if he made the mistake of starting to think about her, the thought would leave his mind with some difficulty.

He wasn't in love with her or something that serious. Not even remotely. He simply enjoyed her presence, her humour, how perky she was when she rambled on about the upcoming photo shoots or her own portfolio... not to even mention the snark she and Kili constantly threw at each other and made those within earshot shake with laughter.

Which, in turn, begged the question of why that little twit hadn't made a move on her yet, when it was a tad obvious that he had the hots for her. Luke couldn't explain it. He had attempted to talk to him about it, coax him into stop quailing and do something, but Kili, being the usual mule, couldn't be arsed. Instead he was all too eager to laugh it off. Well, laugh it off was putting it mildly; his supposedly indifferent answer came somewhere along the lines of a high squeaky voice that sounded like a gravely offended mouse.

Until he got to the end of his tether and decided not to pester his friend further about the matter. Since Kili maintained the so strong claim that he could and would never do something with her and since Luke thought she was nice, he'd ask her out the next time they met. Which brought the highly anticipated, purely laughable reaction when he'd jokingly dropped the bomb in a totally unsuspecting moment. It was oddly pleasing to watch one's childhood friend take a shade between green and purple.

That face would be nothing, however, compared to the one Kili would have a week later, during a day at work that was doomed to go unexpectedly bad.

* * *

He was waiting for the lift doors to close when an urgent voice to hold it reached his ears, and his eyes rose to see the person in question. Arya rushed into the lift, bringing a gush of wind along with her movement, boots practically skating across the floor until the back wall ceased her course.

Luke chuckled. "Easy there, I wasn't gonna leave you without a ride." Then he glanced at the t-shirt she wore under her leather jacket and grinned. It had a Star Wars stamp with the characters of the original trilogy on the front.

"Hey," she smiled, "haven't seen you here in awhile."

"Yeah, I was close and thought to drop by and say hi."

Arya shook her head, feeling a palpable awkwardness overwhelming them. "So... how's it going?"

He was quite surprised at her being in a mood for a chat. "Great," he smiled back, a little reservedly. "And you?"

"Well," Arya gave a light shrug, "it could be worse, so I've no right to complain."

Luke laughed under his breath before inhaling deeply, mustering his most charming look. It had always been the key to success. "Hey, I was wondering, would you like to have dinner with me sometime?"

How the folders she held didn't drop on the floor was a miracle. Her grip on them reflexively tightened and she pondered on the even more awkward moments to come till the twenty-fifth floor. Her mouth was a small gap as she blinked up at him in surprise. "What?" she gasped. "You'd- Why?"

Alright, that was admittedly a reply he hadn't received before. "What?"

Arya was rapidly starting to lose the ability of coherence. "Why would you wanna have dinner with me?" she asked in confusion. "I mean, you barely know me."

His eyebrows drew together in equal confusion. "That's exactly why," he said in earnest. "I'd like to know you better."

A sudden case of arrhythmia struck her and she winced. No one in his right mind would like to know her better; they'd most likely pity her for certain tragic moments of her past and just the thought of it made her jittery. She had no interest in knowing people better –or at least most of them- ergo, they shouldn't have any respective interest in getting to know her. Once again, she mentally reinstated her everlasting aversion to elevators. They always seemed too small for her tastes and also gave people too much time to stare or, _even worse_, ask one out to dinner.

"If you don't want to, it's fine," Luke continued with a casual wave of his hand. Sensing an inner conflict, judging by her drawn features, he smiled again to make her feel less uncomfortable.

"No, no," she said immediately, mostly out of an unprecedented reflex of politeness, "it's not that- It's just..." Now she was just trying to weasel her way out of the awkward conversation. And not very successfully. "I just have a lot on my plate right now- Those weeks are pretty busy, you see-"

The sentence, or what remotely resembled a sentence, was cut in half by a sound, and suddenly the lift jolted and stopped.

Have we forgotten to mention that she was claustrophobic?

Oh, dear.

* * *

Long story short, that wasn't a good day. Less so for Luke. When he saw her face turn pale, her eyes fall shut, her breathing turn erratic and her body slide down the wall and plop on the floor, he had panicked.

It had taken one hour for the service people to get the lift to start again and it had proven quite the bonding time between them. Like, bonding in a physical level.

She'd been clutching his hand in a death grip for the entire time. For her, this -on top of the fact that she barely knew him- was quite bonding, yes. Although she wished it had been Fili in the lift with her; at least the atmosphere would be far more comfortable if she was with a friend. And there was also a bloody fraction of a second during that damn hour where she wished Kili had been there with her. To calm her. Perhaps by... hugging her.

Yet none of those two aspects was reality and she had been free to breathe clean air a while later, almost scuttling out of the claustrophobic little chamber she'd been trapped into, only to stumble upon the sight of Kili snaking an arm around a blonde's waist as they waited for the lift and laughed without a care in the world.

And what would be the most sensible reaction to the sight? But, of course, accept the earlier offer for dinner. Call it wounded pride, call it vanity, call it jeal- No. Not the word from 'j'. Just no.

To hell with it, she'd decided in the end. What did she have to lose except two hours of a day?

_"Well, look who's back so early," Fili's ever suggestive voice commented as soon as the door opened,__ lifting an eyebrow at the scowl on her face. "How did the date go?"_

_"What can I say, the food was exquisite. Everything rolled just fine," Arya drawled, "up to the point where he didn't want to eat more, but I was still hungry. So I asked him if I could finish off his pork, he misheard and thought I said something else," her tone was steadily turning more pointed and mortified, "we had a big laugh, as did the waiter along with the rest of the stuff, and since then I'm a fucking walking mass of embarrassment."_

_The hand in front of Fili's mouth did little to muffle the roaring laughter that rumbled out. The murderous glower she gave him did little as well._

_"Oh, come on," he said after his cackles piped down, tapping her shoulder comfortingly. "I'm pretty sure just because you made him laugh, he likes you even more."_

_Her eyes widened. She didn't know whether to feel pleased or terrified by that new piece of information._

That had happened nearly three weeks ago.

_"I swear I don't remember ever laughing so much in just one night."_

_"Happy to be of service, sir."_

_They had finally reached her place. "That was great," she said lightly, her feet unconsciously budging inches backwards, closer to the building's entrance._

_"It really was."_

_He seemed to lean ever so slightly closer to her and in nanoseconds, her brain sent out distress signals, which led to stretching her hand out and tapping his shoulder, "Alright, goodnight."_

_She was already in the building's steps when he waved goodnight at her, practically scuttling off until there was the safety of two doors separating them. As soon as the door of the flat was closed, she leaned on it with a small sigh._

_"Hello, there."_

_The voice had her jolt in surprise as Fili rounded the corner from the hallway with a smile. She whimpered._

_"What now?"_

_Arya groaned in frustration. "I'm running out of places that I can pat him goodnight."_

_Fili's shoulders fell. "Still nothing?"_

_"We have such a great time together, he's so kind and sweet and funny," her teeth clenched in anger, "and I'm not attracted to him at all!"_

That happened one week ago.

And look where she was now, getting ready to meet him again. Why, that was getting rather ridiculous.

* * *

"It's fine," Arya grudgingly brushed off as she pushed the door open. "I'm sure Fil will have no problem-"

"I'll have no problem with what?"

"Son of a- Were you lurking behind the door?" she asked angrily, giving him a glare.

"Hold on," Fili muttered on his phone and graced them both with a smile, fairly surprised to see her escort there. "Hey, mate," he clapped the man on the shoulder. "How's it going? Did you hear about mum's party?"

"Yeah, my parents told me last week."

"So you'll be there?"

"Of course!" Luke laughed. "How could I miss the birthday of the woman who'd been secretly feeding me treacle tarts for the first eighteen years of my life?"

The third person, however, did not share the cheerful disposition of the other two as she stood beside them, gloomy and uncomfortable. It had been a rather unfortunate stroke of luck –if someone could call that luck- that Luke's sister and her boyfriend arrived in the city out of the blue and needed a place to stay for the night and also... do other things; things Luke really didn't want to listen to, much less be in the same house while they took place. So Arya, feeling burdened with the responsibility to offer him temporary accommodation since they were 'going out', told him that he could crash on her couch. It wasn't that she didn't want to invite him; just felt uncomfortable having him in her very personal space. She felt awful for that, but her subconscious seemed to consider him an intruder and had set barricades.

Fili carefully observed his female friend's awkward stance and needed something less than a minute to catch up. He turned to Luke, "You're staying the night?" He subsequently pressed the phone further into his shoulder to conceal the screaming '_What?_' that came from the other end of the line.

"Yeah..." Luke replied, "if it's no trouble, of course. My dear sister needed to spend some quality time with her boyfriend-"

"She's back in town?" Fili cut him off in surprise. He hadn't seen her in what, three years?

"Don't get me started," he waved off. "They're leaving tomorrow for... Peru, I think? I lost track, honestly, somewhere after Nepal."

Fili blurted out a laugh, then gave a wary glance at the woman beside them. "You'll stay in your room, correct? Cause I've got work to do and I'll be camping in the living room for the next few hours."

A pair of dark eyes almost popped out of their sockets. No... Just no. _Fuck no_! She hadn't signed up for this. Her offhand designed plan was shattering into thousands of pieces with every passing second. Could she get out of it now? Ha-ha, unfortunately no.

"Of course," she eventually hissed with a terribly sweet smile.

Fili had lived enough with her to know when her tone belied her true sentiments and that the smile was foreboding a storm the next day. And it was going to pour solely down on him. Not to mention the other storm, the one of swears Kili would throw at him- Oh, wait a moment, that one had already burst. God help him, it was going to be a _long_ night.

"Alright then, I'll leave you two to your own business," he said merrily, aware that he was jeopardizing his physical integrity with those words. "Nighty night and please keep quiet."

Arya didn't even bother to hold back a not so silent 'piss off', Luke laughed under his breath and Fili smiled as innocently as he could, pretending not to hear the curses that seemed to spill out of an invisible source somewhere in the room.

As soon as the door of her room shut he put the phone back to his ear. "Couldn't you at least keep it to yourself until they were out of earshot?" he mumbled angrily.

"_You couldn't keep your delightful comments to yourself. Why should I?_"

"Why don't you just admit that you're jealous?"

"_Jeal- Of course I'm not jealous! Why the hell would I be jealous?_"

"Really?" the blond inquired sarcastically. "I bet you fifty quid that- Actually, no, make that a hundred, that your face is green right now."

"_For your information, I'm just pissed off that she will probably not be ready for the meeting tomorrow, if she's going to be-_" There was a pause and the sound of a deep breath, before Kili continued sourly, "_Preoccupied tonight._"

Fili whimpered in exhaustion and ever so slight amusement. "Look, I may be your brother, but if you insist on being a coward and won't even admit it to yourself, it's not anyone else's fault that she's going out with him. So either be a man and tell her how you feel," there was a sound of protest here that was quickly silenced by Fili's voice as he went on, "or in case you indeed feel nothing, get over it. He's our friend since we were babies, you should be glad it's him and not a jerk."

"_Is the preaching over?_"

"No," the blond said angrily. "And because I know that you _do_ have feelings for her, stop being a prick and tell her!"

"_Even if I had feelings for her, you forget that she's going out with my friend. I would be a prick if I ever did this to him and told her anyth-_"

"They're going out for three bloody weeks!" he burst in exasperation, trying to keep his voice low. "He just likes her, he's not in love with her!"

"_How can you know that? What, are you telling me that it's impossible for people to fall in love in the course of three weeks? Should I remind you-_"

"I know because he told me that, and Arya in turn told me that she's not attracted to him at all!" Oh, bloody hell. So much for the trust both had showed him.

_"She's not?_" Kili was a step away from sounding as if he'd just choked on his saliva.

Fili felt ashamed of himself. Time could not go back, though; the words were out in the world now. "No, she's not," he said resignedly. "Are you happy now?"

"_I am pissing myself from the elation,_" Kili commented dryly.

Yet Fili had lived with his brother for far longer than he had lived with Arya to recognise when his tone belied his true sentiments. "Are you gonna do something about it?"

There were a few moments of silence before Kili's surly voice resurfaced. "_Then why the hell is he staying in her room and not the fucking couch?_"

"Because I happen to occupy the _fucking couch_, where she initially, as I suspect, intended for him to sleep." Fili could actually feel his gut getting bruised by the invisible punches his brother sent through the phone. "Nothing's gonna happen, trust me. She'll probably kick him out of bed at some point, if she hasn't already put him to sleep on the floor. She doesn't have the quietest sleep, you know."

Kili disagreed; despite changing sides once or twice, she slept quite soundly. And she definitely hadn't kicked him out of bed that night when he was sick. Quite the opposite, she had curled up beside him –rather splayed herself partly on top of him. If someone had seen cats cuddling with each other, they could relate.

_"Yeah, okay, whatever. See you tomorrow._"

"Grow a pair and tell he-"

The line went dead. Fili sighed in frustration. Normally Kili had no problem expressing himself when it came to these matters, or at least he hadn't had any until before their father passed away. His mouth was a torrent up to that moment -meaning that he was open with everyone. After their father's death everything rolled in far more discretion and, while he still had no problem expressing some of his thoughts aloud, there were matters he talked about only to Fili.

Yet this time Kili's mind and emotions were a tumbling mess. And Fili couldn't understand why, or what it was that intercepted the natural flow that led Kili towards that woman. Because he was dead certain that Kili had feelings for her; living proof of the first signs of jealousy, the first time she and Luke went out.

_He was observing how Kili sat defensively on the other side of the table, setting his beer to the side. That alone was a fairly alarming sight. If he wasn't struggling to appear all composed and smiley, Fili was sure he could fry an egg on Kili's head._

_"Hey," Arya's voice sounded as she emerged from the hallway, thoughtfully looking down at her choice of clothing, "you think this is too slutty for a firs-" her eyes widened when she stepped into the room, "Hi, Luke," she reflexively smiled in embarrassment, hoping that he hadn't heard her inquiry, then glared at the blond, "that twit didn't tell me you were here already."_

_"Sorry, I came five minutes earlier, we were chatting and-"_

_"No, no, it's fine," Arya brushed off politely and caught with the corner of her eye Kili's gaze skin her alive. She refrained from looking directly at him out of fear that her face would turn crimson -an annoying habit she'd picked up as of late._

_Kili was raking over her figure, his eyes pinned on the blouse she wore and wondered about as she entered the room. It was a standard issue black v-neck, not provocative and quite appropriate for the occasion -although Kili would rather she wore a polo-neck jumper. Yet he had seen her in one of those as well, and it highlighted the... erm, chest area, so it was a dead end. In fact, he'd rather she stayed home with him and Fili and didn't go anywhere with Luke, least of all for dinner to a place out of his sight._

_"Ready to go?" Luke's voice snapped the brunet out of his troublesome thoughts and he saw Arya nod in affirmation._

_"See you later," Fili waved them goodbye, holding the door open for them._

_"Have a great time you two," Kili piped up with a bristle-inducing grin that quickly turned into a scowl, "And yes, it is too slutty!"_

_Fili, however, managed to shut the door before his brother's childish little outburst hit the hallway._

* * *

"You can take the bed if you want," Arya said casually as she cast the leather jacket off her shoulders. "I've work to do and probably won't sleep."

"At all?"

"Deadlines," she shrugged, "sorry." She might as well not left it for the last moment.

Luke nodded thoughtfully. "Need help with anything?"

It was the first time that night that she actually laughed genuinely. "Thanks, really, but I'm okay."

"Do you mind if I take off my shirt?"

Nah. Not really.

Yes, that might be a bit awkward, but she was already going to hell for this, so why not. "Please," she motioned with her hand, "make yourself at home."

He barely refrained from laughing -she didn't even cast him a glance as he practically stripped. He couldn't bring himself to feel annoyed or something, he just enjoyed her quaint reactions. He was almost entirely sure that this wouldn't lead anywhere, however far might he try to take things. He only hoped that they would at least remain friends afterwards. She just was too much fun to lose from his circle of friends.

Arya curled herself into a ball on the chair of the desk, her eyes focused on the computer screen, even if her mind travelled miles away –probably to a parallel universe where the one sprawled on her bed half-naked was a brooding brunet, who had a rainbow for a smile and smelled like an orchard.

Her head slumped forward on her palm in frustration. Why couldn't she get Kili out of her mind every time she was with Luke? Why couldn't she get him out of her head even when she wasn't with Luke? Why did her thoughts randomly and disturbingly often pick Kili as the subject for musing? Why-? _No_. No more mulling over the bugger that managed to sneak into her thoughts every fucking time she let her mind loose for a second. No more mulling over a certain someone that only the thought of him made her feel guilty for having the man she –supposedly- went out with sleep on her bed right now, or for every single time that man risked trespassing her standard borders of five inches' distance. Oh, how she hated that certain someone.

As if her own playlist on the computer plotted against her, a wonderful cover of 'Wicked game' popped up and gave the answer to all those why's. She always liked to work with music on, yet now almost tossed the headphones away. The realisation fell heavy on her mind -she wanted him. Good Lord, she actually wanted Kili.

Normally, she could breath. Not now. She went from shock, via denial and mild depression and, rather surprisingly, hunger, to a frothing rage. And she ended up hating him again.

From the corner of her eye she glanced over Luke's form, feeling guilty as hell. If she'd realised this earlier, none of this would be happening right now and no guilt would ensue. Damn the timing; damn everything.

"Hey, why don't you get some sleep? It's past three."

The hoarse, drowsy voice startled her to the point that the bones of her neck cracked from how fast she twisted her head to look at him. "I thought you were asleep-"

The mattress shifted from the movement as he scooted to the edge of the bed, closer to the desk. "I was," he smiled innocently. "Until you began to scratch the mouse against the pad with unprecedented vengeance. What's wrong?"

She quickly turned back to the computer, casually muttering, "Nothing. Go back to sleep, I'll be careful not to make noise, I promise."

The sole dim light in the room came from the large screen and lit more than enough to reveal her creased forehead and the troubles they concealed. Two strong arms suddenly pulled the chair away from the desk and slid it towards their owner, while the occupant of the chair swayed dangerously from the abrupt move until her balance was regained moments later.

A pair of solemn eyes looked directly into her own, even if it was quite dark, and his hands slowly came to rest on her knees. "I know how much it annoys you when people watch you. I have every intention of continuing to do it for the rest of the night until you tell me what's wrong."

Arya never was one to actively seek physical contact with others, unless it was necessary; she preferred to save it for the people who were really close to her and in whose presence she felt comfortable. So it was only natural that the moment his hands grabbed her knees, primal instincts kicked in and she recoiled.

Evidently, it did not pass unnoticed. Yet he made no second attempt to bring her closer.

"That sounded disturbingly Fili-like."

Luke gave another easy smile, not really bothered by her wariness. "We played in the same yard for fifteen years. Old influences die hard."

Unable to suppress her natural instincts, she rolled the chair back to a safe distance. "Here's the thing..."

His eyebrows furrowed. He sensed what was coming and a part of him actually feared that she'd tell him to leave, of all things. "Oh, no, not 'the thing', I hate 'the thing'." He braced himself. "What's 'the thing'?"

Her experience on something like this was minimal, if not nonexistent. The last time something similar occurred, she had been on the receiving end of that speech. "You are so nice and kind, and I really can't go on with this anymore. I just can't see you as something more than a friend because-" she said in earnest, hesitating a few seconds before adding, "because I have feelings for someone else. I'm sorry I didn't tell you from the beginning and that you wasted almost a month with this," her hand pointed to them both, "but I realised it myself very recently-" She was cut short by a low sound that disturbingly resembled a chortle.

"Finally!"

Arya's face creased in sheer perplexity. "Sorry?"

"Finally, you admitted it!"

"Admitted what?"

"That you have feelings for someone else. You don't wear denial too well," he laughed quietly. "Not your colour."

The firm grip her hands had with each other slackened. "You _knew_?" she asked in shock.

Luke leaned back and comfortably supported his upper body on the bed, arms stretched behind his back, resisting the urge to tell her that practically everyone except her and that someone else knew already. "Oh, I had a pretty serious inkling, yes," he admitted, leaving her speechless. "Why is that a surprise? Arya, you didn't even let me kiss you."

A hand nervously tangled in her hair. "Bloody hell, man!" she burst. "So what, you just went on with this?"

"Why not?" he asked in earnest. "We've had so much fun-"

"I don't want this to come out the wrong way, but you seem awfully cool for someone I just told that I have feelings for another man."

He beamed at her, raising an eyebrow. "One of my several charming qualities, don't you think?"

Arya thought her jaw was ready to dislocate from her skull. Since when men were so composed over such matters? The usual, rather expectant response would be to bitch about it –and she was extremely lenient in her choice of verb. "So you're not mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you?" he asked in confusion. "Because you want someone else and not me?" The shake of his head was the epitome of fake frustration. "And I thought you'd learned something about me all this time."

"Still... you should have told me that you knew," she objected. "I could also know sooner- It already feels like I deceived you, now I feel like shit."

"Arya, nothing's happened between us," he countered. "Just imagine those weren't dates, but simple nights out with a friend, if that'll help you sleep at night."

Oh, if only that was enough to help her sleep at night.

"I can understand that you feel uncomfortable with having me on your bed right now," he said with caution before he employed a pleading look, "but I beg you, don't kick me out. I can't go home and listen to my sister-" He made a face of disgust.

She raised a hand to save him the explicit detail. "You are free to sleep here as long as you're okay with it. I told you I'm not gonna get any sleep tonight."

He smiled in gratitude, then with an oddly amused mood scooted back to the pillows and dozed off.

After this was finally resolved, Arya realised how desperate she was for some sugar in her system. It hit her that she'd bought a few doughnuts on her way home the day before, so she headed directly to the fridge. She shouldn't have. In the midst of her well thought plan, she hadn't counted in dearest Fili who was still awake and full of vivacity. It was the first thing she saw walking into the kitchen, on top of the mess he'd made -it looked like someone had killed a grocery store.

"You're over here making out with a chicken wing at 3:30 in the morning? For real?"

"Eh, I still had room left even after the doughnuts-"

Her eyes went wide. "You ate my doughnuts?"

Fili positively looked like a deer caught in headlights. "They accidentally fell in my mouth..."

"_My_ doughnuts? Dude, there were like eight!" She tossed her hands around in despair. "My God, people are gonna think you have a 3D tattoo of a doughnut on your stomach!"

"Why so cranky?" he wondered. "The hormones released during sex usually are really good for the nerves-" Then he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, "Unless... Was it that bad?"

A smack on the back of his head was all it took for him to shut it, although not enough to stop smirking at her.

"Nothing happened. In fact, it's over." Suddenly she felt a burden lifting from her shoulders. In a matter of seconds, though, the weight of the whole world seemed to crush her down, like an ant under a boot, as she recalled the epiphany she'd had regarding the subject of her feelings.

The relief in her tone almost made him smile. Kili would probably piss himself at the news. "Did he do it, or you?"

"Me," she replied, hands deftly searching every place that could store something edible. "Whatever that was, it lasted far more than it should-" her almost whispering voice turned into an angry growl, "For fuck's sake, have you actually pillaged the kitchen?"

The blond grinned at her through a mouthful of sandwich, revealing a tiny piece of lettuce stuck on his teeth. "Come on," he whined, "you know I get the munchies when I'm working late at night."

"No, Fil, this is not you getting the munchies. This is Obelix having midnight cravings."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! Review, if you want!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, you guys! Thanks to all those who followed, favourited and left a review, each and every one of all those is keeping me alive and moving!**

**Brace yourselves for a lot of Kili, as promised in the previous chapter. There might be strong language at two points (the f word).**

* * *

Two whole weeks had come and gone since that fateful night of the earth-shattering realisation, and Arya was on pins and needles. She consistently -reverently almost- avoided Kili at every turn because, sure as hell, she wouldn't have the courage to even look him in the eye. Not that she was at fault; rather frightened that he'd figure everything out, and only the stars knew what would follow.

On the bright side, she had found herself quite relaxed around Luke, at least the few times she had happened to see him after that night. To say that she was astounded by his unusual reaction didn't do justice to her feelings, although she suddenly felt a great deal of a rare appreciation for the universe and her luck that he proved to be so open-minded. It was usually followed by a great deal of her usual grumpiness about the universe and her rotten luck, even if it was not their fault that she felt those... _things_ for Kili. Still, she was a human being and, like most of them, she had the tendency to throw the blame on someone; the universe and luck were the easiest victims when she lacked a scapegoat.

* * *

Two whole weeks had also come and gone since that fateful day when Kili had learned about the _unfortunate_ ending of Luke and Arya's brief... whatever it was. He had worn his most convincing mask of indifference when he asked his brother about the events of that night, however pleadingly the look in his eyes demanded for details, which Fili was not so eager to give away, if only to revel in the younger's torture. Eventually the blond gave in and divulged everything he could remember.

It took an excessive amount of self-control from Kili to not burst into dance at the news. What had him wonder was why and where on earth she had disappeared those two weeks. He'd barely seen her, either at work or even when he dropped by their place. It almost felt like she was doing it on purpose, seeing to be absent whenever he was around. It irked him, to say the least.

This is why he anticipated this weekend so impatiently. It was their mother's birthday and they were throwing her a party like the good sons they were this year. Even Thorin had promised to come, along with Dwalin and a few others; Arya as well.

Kili wasn't shocked to see her accept; his mother had mustered the puppy eyes when she extended the invitation. It was a gift apparently bestowed to the next generation as well; Kili used it every so often and, arguably, with tremendous success. It was ineffective only on his brother's flatmate, at least most of the time. Not that he was using it much on her –only twice this year and a half they knew each other- though he was quite proud of himself. Perhaps there was a 50% chance for Arya to refuse to succumb to his puppy eyes, but that plummeted down to 0 when it came to his mother. So she was convinced to not just come to the party, but spend Friday and the whole weekend there.

On Friday noon, as soon as he finished whatever work he had to do, he took the train and arrived there alone. Arya was expected to show up later, Fili would come the next day because he had loads of errands to run to, and Thorin along with the rest on Sunday. Luke's parents, being neighbours, were already there and he'd probably show up tomorrow.

These thoughts were buzzing around his head as he cut the firewood in the yard, his hands' movements with the axe almost mechanical after years of practice.

* * *

It was almost five in the afternoon when Arya set foot in the family property with a duffel bag hanging from her shoulder. The weather was unusually warm for May's standards, although it was doomed to last no more than a few hours.

"Welcome, my dear girl!" Desirée greeted with a smile from the porch. "We were expecting you earlier-"

"I got stuck at work," Arya gave a regretful smile as she treaded on the small path, "I'm _so_ sor-"

Her voice drowned in her throat, for a sight had her dead in her tracks. Her eyeglasses slid from the top of her head down her nose, fortunately covering her eyes. _Oh sweet mother of all that is good and pure_.

There was Kili, only in a pair of worn jeans and old, muddy military boots, chopping firewood with an axe. A cigarette was hanging askew from his lips. His hands paused for a second, took it, and he slowly blew the smoke out of his mouth.

It was like the intro of a bad porno.

It wasn't as if she hadn't seen him before without a shirt on. In fact, she had rubbed Vicks across his chest that time he was sick; a chest well-defined from years of house tasks and workout, currently bathed in sunbeams as beads of sweat rolled down his back and torso. Muscles contracted and relaxed as his arms brought the axe down and cut the firewood in half with enviable precision. And that dusting of dark hair across his pectorals that travelled downwards, tantalisingly disappearing beneath the belted jeans-

Arya's mouth went impossibly dry. She felt pathetic -well, actually, she felt pathetic on the daily, but always felt a tad more when it came to him.

All joking aside, in her lifetime, he was the only one she'd ever known who could make such a mundane task as chopping firewood look like a sexual adventure. Let all existent deities show some mercy and forgiveness, but she could eat that with a spoon.

Her eyes went wide. "_Put that thought back where it came from, or so help me,_" the voice of reason echoed in her head and tried to shake her body out of the paralysed state it had sunk into.

The voice of reason didn't manage to bring her back to her senses soon enough for Kili to let that just slide. He had averted his eyes from the firewood, one hand easily wielding the insignificant weight of the axe as he turned to her. He took a long drag of his cigarette, then lazily blew the smoke out and a smug grin tugged at the corners of his mouth, only bolstered by her reaction. Was she... ogling him? He couldn't say he was repulsed by the idea.

"Are you openly perving on me?"

This voice, however, did manage to snap her out of the paralysed state. "Oh yes," came the dry reply, a standard reflex when it came to him and his comments. "I can't wait to shag you behind those trees."

Kili arched an eyebrow, supporting both his hands on the axe that now stood on the ground, newfound amusement flitting across his sweaty, flushed face. He expected her to react any moment now. And she did. Her eyes jerked nervously on his mother, who was still at the porch but seemed totally unperturbed by the bawdy comment.

Instead the older woman was smiling broadly. "Well, no need to inconvenience yourselves, we have perfectly comfortable beds upstairs," she offered easily. "Unless, of course, you prefer outdoors. Although, let me tell you, the pine needles back there can be quite prickly." Then she turned to her son with a thoughtful look, "I could suggest one or two other places where your father and I went-"

_Oh dear Lord_. Kili had definitely not seen that one coming back to bite him in the arse. "Mum!" he chimed in, trying really hard to get his mind to eliminate certain unfortunate memories that could scar one for life. "Thank you for your contribution, that was more than enough information to share in public."

"I was just offering a wider range of choices," his mother raised her hands innocently. "I want my guest to be comfortable. It's not my fault if _you_," she pointed at him, "are all _into the wild_ style."

Kili pinched the bridge of his nose with almost barbaric vehemence. Talking embarrassment level over 9000. "Judging by your guest's face, you're not making her comfortable right now," he said pointedly. "And I share the feeling."

The aforementioned guest stood frozen on the spot, praying to spontaneously implode or at least turn into an ostrich so she could shove her head in the sand, along with her mortification. She had just arrived and everything was going from bad to worse to even worse in nanoseconds. Big mistake to come here. Three days within dangerous distance from Kili... When would she ever learn?

He clicked his fingers to draw Arya's attention, who stood in befuddlement a few feet away. "I'm flattered that you're ogling me, but there are like a hundred bugs flying around, so you'd better close your mouth."

The woman had half a mind to simply turn around and walk away, and his cockiness did little to suppress that thought. "Piss off," she growled at him under her breath before following his mother's call to get inside.

Her pace faltered when his voice sounded anew, the smugness ever so apparent, "We can arrange a private show sometime later, if you want."

Not even bothering to turn around, Arya flipped him the bird and Kili laughed breathlessly before he got back to the task. Honestly, he'd missed their banter after two weeks of silence.

* * *

After a wonderful plate of much needed food, Arya found herself trying to digest it by lounging on the even more wonderful porch swing with the fluffy cushion that had view of the sea. Three and something hours must have passed since her arrival. The sun had set and the orange glow in the horizon along with the unusual warmth of the afternoon had given up their place to an overcast sky and a light chill. Alas, normal weather.

Her feet pushed against the wooden floor, the movement causing the swing to sway back and forth. It was so relaxing. And the soft wash of the sea waves on the opposite enhanced the tranquility.

It, of course, had to be disrupted.

And the culprit was none other than Kili. He had been focused on the firewood and the garden since her eventful arrival, and she had managed to avoid him rather successfully. Until now.

Kili was done for the day with the house tasks and had just showered and eaten. He didn't know whether it happened on purpose, but it was fairly suspicious that they hadn't exchanged another word or a simple glance since her arrival. It felt like she was doing her best to avoid him, even now that they were in the same house, and it was really grating on his nerves. Also, his ability to contain his anger when it reached dangerously close to bursting was not very practised. He'd had a quite heated argument with his mother only minutes ago, from which he naturally came out defeated. Had the circumstances been different he wouldn't even be having that conversation. He'd do it without any unnecessary encouragement or provocation.

He watched how she idly moved the swing back and forth. She was still dressed in the clothes from earlier, which were rather light, and he suddenly had the urge to give her one of his hoodies to wear. The thought alone stirred a strange feeling in his chest –she could easily nest inside it.

The smack he ought to give on the back of his own head was never given and was replaced by a frustrated whimper. The woman was practically avoiding him for reasons that resided only inside her addled brain, and he was thinking about how nice she'd look in his hoody. Pathetic, that's what he was.

"Hey."

She looked up, not ceasing the swing's movement. "Hey," she greeted quietly. Thank the heavens, he was all dressed up this time.

He shuffled his feet for a while. It was not in his character to be socially awkward, and his annoyance was growing bigger. "I spoke with mum."

"Yeah...?"

"She told me to take you for a walk."

"Why, to take a piss?"

"Come again?" he said in confusion.

"What am I to take me out for a walk," she mumbled dryly, "a dog?"

"Oh, come on," he said tiredly, "you know what I mean. She doesn't want you to get bored in the house."

Arya let a loud sigh. If a walk with her was so hazardous as his tone made it sound, she had every intention of sparing him the duty he was burdened with. "So what now?"

"So I was thinking... if you want, of course," Kili said seriously, "we could go out later."

"Oh, if _I_ want?"

The attitude really didn't help his annoyance to abate. "Yeah," he sneered, "if you fancy that."

She moved into a sitting position, stretching her legs out and then placing them on the wooden rail in front of her. "What about you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "Would _you _fancy that?"

"Frankly, I don't give a damn," Kili brushed off with a shrug. "I was gonna go out anyway. So you think about it," he pointed at her, "and let me know."

Her teeth gritted in irritation. "Don't you point your finger at me," she growled under her breath as he swiveled around and moved to open the front door. "You should put it where it gives you more pleasure."

A low, grumbling whisper had him still on the spot. He turned to her. "Did you say something?"

"Just singing under my breath," she replied quickly. "Am I allowed to do that, or is it against the house rules?"

With an eye-roll Kili shuffled inside and left her to her own devices.

* * *

The bathroom had transformed into her temporary fortress. She had given in to Kili's offer –surprising, eh?- and was now nervously bustling about, trying to figure out why the bloody hell she had done that. She could have easily refused and stayed there, possibly fall asleep on the swing in the porch and no harm, no foul. So much for a promising night. Yet a little imp that slipped out of her control had led her feet in front of him and her mouth to announce that she'd like to go for a walk as he had so eloquently put it.

Her palms now savagely rubbed her throbbing temples and the skin felt ready to melt and detach from her head. She looked down at herself; hadn't changed since she arrived, except from switching into a more formal black blouse with lacy short sleeves and neckline –a _totally_ coincidental choice- and the leather jacket because of the night chill. Perhaps a splash of colour might have been thrown somewhere in there as well.

She let a deep sigh. She had a bad feeling about this.

Kili was waiting for her rather impatiently at the dim lighted porch, smoking and trying to defuse the unearthly tension that had him unable to sit still for a second.

The door opened and a voice almost grudgingly announced, "All good to go."

"Finally," he exclaimed under his breath, turning around to face her. Something made his eyes linger on the burgundy lips -they had the colour of the respective wine. And he was a _big _fan of wine. He wanted to taste them- _It_! He wanted to taste _it_, damn it, the wine. Not _them_. "What did you do?"

Her eyes narrowed. "What did I do?"

"How did you...?" his questioning voice faded as he gestured from the top of her head to the tip of her toes.

"Is this your idea of a compliment?" Arya asked in return, her forehead furrowed in confusion.

"That's why it took you half a day to get ready?" Kili grumbled. The attempt to seal his true opinion about her appearance proved rather successful.

"Half a day? That was twenty minutes max."

"What is it with women and their perpetually warped perception of time?"

"Don't tar an entire gender with the same brush just because the few women you know happen to move like sloths."

He arched an eyebrow in question -was that an underlying insult directed to him, or had he insulted her? Bloody hell, sometimes that woman was worse than The Riddler. In the end he just let it slide.

They went down the three small steps that led to the yard, oblivious to the roguishly smiling figure than lurked behind a slightly pulled drape inside the house and colluded with her older son on the phone.

* * *

The infamous walk had rolled in relative silence, neither of the two parties being especially eager to engage in small talk. Their gazes strayed down the road, either on the shops' windows or the people who walked past them, rarely meeting each other's. On the bright side it wasn't raining, so they didn't have to huddle up under an umbrella -this was already awkward enough.

After a short ramble around the town they'd ended up in a very nice place, courtesy of Kili's ideas. As they were settling at the bar she was fairly surprised to see him pull the tall stool she was about to sit on.

"What are you doing?" she asked in suspicion, inwardly fearing that he would pull a prank on her and let her collapse on the floor by pulling the stool further away.

"Being a gentleman," Kili responded dryly. "Aren't you familiar with the concept?"

"I am familiar with the concept. I just didn't think it applied to you."

The scathing remark made his solemn expression falter into a sneer. Then, oddly enough, he cracked a smile. "Apparently, there's a lot you don't know about me."

The smile was neither genuine nor benign. And it scared her. "Apparently," she agreed, avoiding voicing aloud the rest of the sentence, that she would be very interested in getting to learn more about him.

She took a swig of her drink, her studying gaze raking over his figure something less than discreetly. He was unnervingly handsome, with the scruffy beard and his short dark curls that made her fingers itch to get tangled with them to the point of self-torture.

The gawking didn't go unnoticed. Kili was undeniably amused that she was staring at him as she sipped her drink dangerously fast, but he was determined not to let that emotion prevail, let alone show. He mistook her lack of chat mood and the intense, heated gaze for displeasure. He couldn't understand why she seemed to dislike being in his presence so much. His poor, stubborn mind was unable to take in that this, the two of them out alone, simply made her all excited and awkward at the same time and she didn't know how to handle it. And that was his big mistake.

Arya shared part of those thoughts. He seemed quite disgruntled to be with her, if the sullen look on his face was any indication; a look marking that he was forced to do this, according to her equally stubborn, befuddled mind. "What now?" she sighed. "Are we going to spend the rest of the night on mute?"

"I don't know," Kili shrugged. "Is there anything you'd like to talk to me about?"

Her mouth moved to open, but closed in the next second.

He looked at her coldly. "I thought so."

A look that, with some effort, could be described as hurt flitted across her face. But, no, it was a bed of her own making and she was obliged to lay on it. She had been the one to accept to come, when at the same time she was trying to avoid him. Those were the consequences she was facing and she totally deserved it. No right did she have to feel even remotely hurt.

Time passed dully; slow torturous minutes that felt like whole hours, until the good part came. They might be sitting next to each other at the bar, but they had barely exchanged a few words, so it was natural for people around them to presume that each was there on his own -namely a woman who had set her eyes on the tall brunet for quite the time.

Suddenly, as Kili's eyes rose and glanced about the room, the woman flashed a blinding smile and waved at him.

* * *

The drink had reached the bottom of the glass, and Arya hadn't realised that for the past minute she was stupidly trying to sip a slice of lemon. She would have noticed it sooner hadn't it been for the disturbingly frolicsome exchange between Kili and that woman from earlier. They seemed familiar with each other, if the lack of necessary space between them and the hand that rested on his chest were any indications.

Her eyes unwillingly travelled up and down the brunette woman's figure. It'd be a lie to claim that she wasn't pretty. And the way she moved and spoke seemed to have captured Kili's attention enough to stay there for so long, especially when one considered his alternative, which involved more boring hours with someone he disliked.

For a fraction of a second, Arya wished she was more of a woman like that brunette -all giggly and elegant and ladylike; for fuck's sake, her deceased cat had been more in touch with the feminine wiles than she was.

Much to her approval, her mind subsequently gave a mental harsh slap on her face to bring her back to her senses. Not only he had left her alone, but also made her wish -even for a teeny fraction of time- to be someone else, just to increase her odds for him to like her?

So this is how her dignity died. With thunderous applause.

Yet there had to be balance in the universe. She took a deep breath, trying to make all the thoughts of murder ebb away. It didn't work. As much as she was inclined to join the Dark Side, she lacked a lightsaber. Her eyes fell down to her watch and she suppressed a wry smile -twenty more seconds and he'd complete twenty seven minutes absent. She guessed that was her cue to get going, though he could at least have had the elementary courtesy to tell her not to wait for him.

* * *

It was a truth universally acknowledged that when one encountered a school friend after a decade, there was a lot to tell and be told about. Kili was honestly glad to see her but, not being in a garrulous mood himself, he had started to phase out the jabber a few minutes into the conversation. His mind began to wander and he lost track of time.

After a few minutes that had in fact rounded up in half hour, it occurred to her that she might have taken him away from the company of the woman he had mentioned earlier to have come with, who she presumed to be his girlfriend for reasons unknown. _That_, Kili heard and he'd half a mind to play along.

His gaze shifted towards the bar, expecting to see Arya laugh evilly at him and bask in his torture. He was actually prepared to plead her with his eyes to come and save him; not so much for what he eventually faced, which was an empty stool, an empty glass and her and her jacket nowhere to be found. Eyes roamed about the room, not finding her anywhere.

It was enough incentive. He offered a brief goodbye to his old friend, went to grab his jacket and, to his surprise, was told that Arya apparently had paid for both their drinks before leaving. Concern and anger clouded his mind. If she wasn't sick or something and had left without even telling him, he'd be on the warpath._  
_

The man almost teleported back home. The moment he stepped on the porch it was impossible not to spot the figure sitting quietly on the swing, swaying back and forth again using the rail as leverage, calm as ever, a bottle somewhere next to her legs while another one was planted in her hand. _His _beer.

Still, there was a partly doleful expression in her features that put a hindrance to his surge of anger. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked in confusion.

It took a few seconds to grace him with a direct look –a glower more so. "Did I violate the curfew?" she asked dryly.

"Is it so hard for you to answer seriously just for once?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake, I'm just sitting here in silence and drinking a beer," she cried dramatically. "Do I disturb anyone?"

Kili shot her a glare, suppressing one or two swearwords that threatened to spill out of his mouth. He grabbed the other bottle from the floor and an invisible rope pulled him to plop down beside her. "Not so sure about the second, but apparently you've drunk enough of _my_ beers."

"I'll pay for them if they are so important to you," she rolled her eyes, then lightly chinked her bottle with his. "Cheers."

Her alarmingly merry disposition, especially now that he was so close to her, made his brow furrow. She might deflect quite successfully, though his gut told him that she was boiling on the inside, as was he. His suspicions were confirmed a while later, when her voice snapped him out of his musings.

"How is it that you came home so early?" there was a bitter edge in her tone. "You seemed to be having _so much_ fun."

There was no need for her to learn that he'd rushed home because of her. "I've got a few chores to do tomorrow and thought it better to sleep early." Which wasn't entirely a lie.

Arya hummed in affirmation under her breath, then struggled to make her voice sound as casual as possible, "How did it go with the brunette?"

The question perplexed him. "How did what go?"

"I don't know, you tell me," she smiled. "You were the one talking with her as if you were welded to each other."

"Nah," Kili brushed off. "Those women make no impression on me."

"Get away!" the inexplicably sarcastic tone had him glaring at her under impossibly intense eyebrows. "And what women _do_ make an impression on you?"

The words were sly, manipulative, and touched a nerve in him that he didn't want to admit to having. His hand clenched the bottle tighter before he forcefully dropped it on the wooden boards of the floor as though it scalded the flesh of his palm, feeling deeply ashamed of the flush that now crept to his face due to the flitting thought of her as the answer to her question. He was not in the mood for wordplay. If he did decide to play, however, he wouldn't be the one to lose.

"A different breed," he said starkly.

"Bull terriers?"

The pungent reply stoked further the kindling fire inside him, even though he struggled to keep it at bay. "She's more of Fili's taste, not mine," he explained after a long moment of silence and she laughed humourlessly in response, not believing a single word.

Kili stifled a growl. All kinds of ways crossed his mind regarding how he could make her shut up and lose her voice; some –well, actually most- of them required privacy and a well soundproof room. In this house he had neither. However, he had half a mind to drag her behind those trees she'd mentioned earlier in the day, and he wouldn't give a damn even if the whole neighbourhood heard them. Because they were _definitely_ gonna be heard –he'd take special care of that. His teeth gritted almost punishingly. He was bordering on the insane- These _thoughts_ made him border on the insane, yet he couldn't shoo them away.

His eyes were hooded with the shadow of an odd emotion that momentarily made her recoil. That look of his could dominate her and the bloody muscle called heart started to beat faster than normal, fooling her mind into believing that she liked this look.

This moment of indulgence had cost her. She felt betrayed by herself, and it kindled her rage.

Her reaction did in no way pass unnoticed. Even if it lasted for a moment, Kili knew that he had the upper hand in that moment. And he took full advantage of it. "Why did you leave?" he growled in anger.

For Arya, that moment of weakness was gone like the wind. "You said there's a lot I don't know about you," she said evenly. "Well, I do not have the talent which some people possess, of conversing easily with those who I don't know a lot about."

"It's not that you are not capable of doing it. It's your own fault that you haven't taken the trouble of practicing," Kili quipped and she looked at him in astonishment for having recognised that. "Yeah, you're not the only one in the world who's read Pride and Prejudice." Another long minute passed. His eyes clouded and he persisted, "_Why_ did you leave?"

"Why do you even care?" she shrugged. "You were pretty engrossed in conversation for about thirty minutes." Her anger had finally found a slit to the outer world. "I'm sorry, should I have stayed and waited more for your Highness to return?"

His eyes fell to his watch and... _Shite_. Kili lowered his head in regret. "I'm _so_ sorry, I shouldn't have left you waiting for so long, but-"

"I don't need an excuse. Just- Why did you even tell me to come in the first place? You could easily tell your mum that my presence is unwanted and you would've saved us both the troubl-"

"Whoa, whoa, _unwanted_?" he cut her. "Are you fucking kidding me? You uttered about four or five sentences the entire night, you've been avoiding me for the past two weeks and you're telling me that _I_ didn't want you to come?"

She could understand neither the source of his flutter, nor the fact that he was telling her in an abnormally cross way that he actually wanted to go out with her. It was enough that his furious look alone made her feel like this was a trial and he was attacking her without remorse or rational reason. He was indifferent to the point of annoyance when he told her about that blasted walk, and now was trying to make her believe that he did want her to join? Was he of sound mind or not?

"Why have you been avoiding me?" he seethed quietly.

Arya had absolutely no intention of dignifying this with an answer. Call it cowardice, call her chicken-hearted, but no, she'd made a promise to herself long ago to feel nothing akin to pain, at least not until her body was ready to accommodate the emotion again. She had had enough of it after her family passed away. And it would become full blown reality if she ever revealed the reason she'd been trying to avoid him, or the nature of her true feelings to him simply because he would certainly not reciprocate them.

"I am very sorry to have caused you or your mind any trouble," was all her mouth managed to mumble through the tumult that broke in her head, and in two strides she was already on her way to open the front door. "It won't happen again. Goodnight."

Yet Kili proved to have rather quick reflexes. He had her pinned against the wall, both arms hindering any possible exit of hers from the taut stranglehold. "It won't be good for both of us, I can guarantee that," he growled under his breath. "Why have you been avoiding me?"

The claustrophobia emerged tenfold, even if she wasn't stuck in a closed space. His body and arms, however, rose like constrictive walls around her. "Kili," she breathed out, "let me go."

The raspy gasp of his name had a wholly undesirable effect on him, which he took great caution to keep under his hat. "I know you're doing it," he insisted, the hoarse voice making him all the more intimidating. "All this year and a half we know each other, you haven't missed a _single_ chance to throw your snark at me, and now all of a sudden you stop. _Why?_"

With eyes half closed and breathing going erratic, her fingers had already jerked up to his chest and grabbed the smooth fabric of his shirt, in a feeble attempt to push him back. Before she knew what she was doing, her hands fisted in his shirt and her head slumped forward. "I said I was sorry-"

"Don't dodge the question!"

"Don't make this worse!" she shot back at him with what composure had remained intact. "Just let me go, or I'm going to make you. And it _won't_ be nice."

It took him a few seconds to comply, not because he felt threatened, rather because he realised that she wasn't in the best state to have this discussion right now.

She breathed almost greedily once his arms abandoned their post at the sides of her head, and then looked up to him. There was a hint of regret in his eyes amongst a dozen other emotions and their colour slowly returned to their usual warm hazel as opposed to the dark one so far. On the other hand, perhaps she was a bit tipsy and her eyesight was not trustworthy for the time being.

"Stop drinking my beers and go to sleep," he muttered sullenly, the commanding tone leaving no space for objections.

He watched as she furiously stormed off into the house, with cheeks flushed and shining dark eyes. His arm came to rest on the wall anew and his head fell forward. There was a small chance his self-control had slipped ever so slightly from his hands. And he had been all boastful earlier about being a gentleman... "_Oh yes,_" a voice wryly whispered in his head, "_that was very gentlemanly_."

Still, he couldn't help it with this woman. Oblivious to herself, she seemed to have found his own heel and was constantly bombarding it with arrows, as opposed to the only one it took for Paris to bring down Achilles. It made Kili wonder how many more arrows he could withstand before she'd lead him to his demise.

With steps and eyes that hinted at an emotional chaos, he stomped to his room, tossed his clothes on wherever they eventually landed and collapsed on the bed.

If looks could pierce, he would have opened a hole the size of Jupiter on the quite thin wall that separated his room from the one Arya was. It took him some time to doze off and his sleep could not even remotely be described as peaceful. Quite the opposite, it was troubled, and most of his dreams were haunted by images of the woman in the next room who, no matter how close, still remained beyond his reach.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed that. Don't forget to review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello, guys! It's been a few days since the last update, I'm sorry, life has been a tad hectic these past two weeks. Hope you're doing great! Thanks to everyone who followed, favourited or left a review, it's a pleasure to read each and every one of them.**

**DD: 'Wanted dead or alive' will be updated after the third film comes out, or after the extended edition of Desolation of Smaug comes out on November 3 -that depends on the new footage. I hope you are patient till then! And thank you for your review!**

**Also, some of Arya's family names have been changed to fit the modern era, so don't be confused when you stumble upon them (Rae is used instead of Gilraen, Irene instead of Ithíriel, and Ethan instead of Aranethon).**

* * *

The multiple alarm bells that rang simultaneously in Arya's head were just too much to bear as she lay on the bed -or more accurately tossed and turned on it. The notion would not abandon her mind despite how forcefully she struggled to shoo it away. She couldn't understand why a person who disliked someone, was furious that this someone did their best to avoid them. It made absolutely no sense.

She suddenly remembered how it felt when he trapped her between himself and the wall -awful because her claustrophobic problems struck back, and at the same time a tiny bit satisfied that mere inches separated her from the delectable specimen of man in front of her. A shiver ran down her spine just at the thought of it all, and she almost groaned in frustration.

Her practical self stepped forth then and presented yet another reason why she shouldn't be attracted to Kili, pulling her back to the grim reality of their working relationship. Technically speaking, he was her boss. And her professional boundaries were still firmly in place, even if her personal ones had ended up a pile of debris.

Her arm stretched out to the night table and brought her phone to her face. She read 3:58 before her eyes lingered on the date -Saturday, May 17. There was something... something she couldn't exactly place that was supposed to happen close to this day. Her mind raked up all the recent photo shoots and the deadlines of the projects she had to deliver this past week –had she forgotten to do anything? Doubtful. They would have notify her. And the sole project she had to deliver next week was due on Friday.

And then it hit her.

She jumped upright in shock. _Shit._ Her aunt's test results were supposed to be out several hours ago, but she hadn't received a call from her yet. Her head began to spin wildly.

* * *

_Five days ago_

It had been something more than a week since the moment she resolved to avoid Kili whenever the situation obliged, employing her new walk of the month; half-tiptoeing, half-sprinting across the long corridors of the building. It had worked wonders so far.

It was during one of those moments of her ridiculous handling of the situation that a very known squeal of her name echoed down the hall and made her abandon her fortress and step into the light. Turning around, she saw her aunt walking towards her, while a little tornado was already dangling from her legs.

"Auntie Arya!" the known voice squealed again and squeezed her legs in an impossibly tight for his age grip. She wasn't his aunt, more accurately his cousin, but try to make a five-year-old change his mind.

"There's my little imp!" Arya smiled widely, then bent to lift him, almost dropping him midway. "Boy, somebody eats sweets."

The boy grinned as she secured him in her arms and planted a kiss on the top of his head, while he laced his arms around her neck. His mother caught up a second later, approaching them with a broad smile, although Arya discerned an odd twinkle in her look.

"Aunt Rae, what are you doing here?" she asked after their hug. "I thought you wouldn't come till before Christmas! Where's uncle-?"

Worry momentarily flitted across the woman's eyes and made her niece's smile freeze on her face. "Something's come up and we need to talk."

She might not see her aunt as much as five and six years ago, but she still could tell when something was seriously wrong. And the fact that she had made this trip without warning only coloured the future more ominous. "Of course," her head nodded eagerly. "There's a small café on the thirty-fifth, go and I'll meet you there in ten."

Ten minutes later as she promised, she was searching for two familiar faces in the crowd. A hand waved at her, and a minute later she was placing herself on a chair. Her eyes sideways glanced at her little cousin, who was sitting on a chair slightly –and purposely as she suspected- away from them, blissfully immersed in his Harry Potter book. Arya made a mental note to give him a nice tickle later.

"Why did you come without telling me?" she asked worriedly. "I could've come and picked you up from the airpo-"

"Well, for starters you don't have a car, and you also don't know how to drive with the wheel on the right side."

"That's not the point!" Arya protested. "I would've figured something out. Where are you staying?"

"At a hotel," her aunt replied. "We're leaving the day after tomorrow. I would've come alone, but your uncle is away and I couldn't find someone to watch him."

The young woman shook her head in understanding. "Okay, now will you please tell me what's wrong?"

Rae took a sip of her black coffee and then crossed her hands in front of her almost reverently, like a pastor. "Remember when we spoke last week and I told you about that swelling I'd felt?" Her niece nodded. "It started to hurt a bit, so I decided to get it checked."

"And?" Arya waited with baited breath. "What is it? It's nothing serious, right?"

Her aunt simply shrugged. "It may be nothing to worry about, I'm not sure yet. I've got an appointment with a gynaecologist here, this is why I had to come. You know, get a second opinion and all-"

In less than a second, Arya saw her whole life flashing before eyes. "What does a gynaecologist have to do with this?" she asked suspiciously. "You told me it was near your stomach, not-"

Rae sighed and broke a light smile when the face of her deceased sister-in-law came to mind. Irene would certainly be proud to witness this. Too bad that Arya had foolishly discarded the opportunity of another career. "You're wasting yourself on this job," she told her, mild disappointment hidden in her eyes. "You would excel in med school."

"No, Ethan would," said Arya with lips pursed into a thin line, the memory of the day her late brother had been accepted to med school still painfully fresh. "_I_ would probably hold the skulls and pretend to be Hamlet. Look, I've had this discussion a hundred times with mum and dad, and another hundred with you and uncle. Just because mum was a doctor, it didn't mean all of us should follow in her footsteps. And just because I love watching House, it doesn't mean I ever wanted to become a doctor. If I were as smart as he is, then yes, it would be my pleasur-"

"You are smart," her aunt deadpanned. "I don't often see a surgeon hold a conversation with a sixteen-year-old like he's talking to a colleague of his."

"That's probably because mum used to read us Gray's Anatomy instead of children's books to go to sleep," Arya said in exasperation. "Anyway, there's no point in discussing that again. Now tell me, why a gynaecologist?"

"Perhaps it's just a cyst." Rae swiftly glanced at her son, who was still too absorbed by his book to listen to them, then looked back at her, quietly saying, "But it could also be a tumor."

* * *

Kili's sleep was the worst he'd had in the last month. Even if for someone else those dreams would most likely be welcome, they frightened the bejesus out of him. For crying out loud, what person in their right mind had a soundtrack in their dreams? To get to the point, his were haunted by the sounds of 'What goes around comes around', which as he correctly suspected had been planted in his subconscious only because the words were those of Arya's tattoo.

Speak of the devil, she was the prominent figure apart from himself in his dreams; which by the way should be rated NC-17. Only the current one -the sequel of the others before- was of less inappropriate content.

_He lay on his back and she was sprawled partly on top of him, a thin linen sheet covering their legs and barely her backside. Large pillows and a thick quilt formed a pile on the floor as a light, welcoming breeze blew off the sea through the open window. It cooled down the hot room and made goosebumps spread on their damp from sweat skins as they were basking in the afterglow._

_He was mulling over the various stops they'd made on their way to the bed; wall, floor, shower, then finally the blessed bed. Blessed for him at least, seeing as he had been the one to hold her in the air during their stops at the shower and the wall –not that he was complaining. His whole body was still pulsing with that consuming need, ears ringing from her delightful moans of his name earlier._

_His hand was idly twirling and playing with a few strands of her hair and the other comfortably rested under his head as he gazed outside the window. He could feel her hand slowly stroke patterns on his chest, while her lips and teeth were too busy nipping softly at his neck._

_"Ready for round five?" His chest rose and fell as he spoke, and he delighted in the light weight atop him, as well as the low chuckle of hers that reverberated in his chest._

_More blood rushed to a lower part of his body as she shifted a bit and straddled him, offering him ample view of her bare front. "Nah," she warned with a breathless laugh, "I wouldn't want to exhaust you."_

_The sound only managed to enhance his want further and both his hands immediately came into action, gently squeezing her hips and then sliding down, fingertips tantalisingly tickling her as he grazed her thighs._

_Out of the blue, everything turned into a scenery of a gory horror film the moment she pulled a jagged knife from behind her back._

_He was physically gripped by fright. He used whatever strength he had to withdraw from her, but it all happened in a fraction of the moment. __The knife was embedded deep in his chest and all breath left his lungs when he saw a torrent of blood gushing out. In the second it took for the pain to become evident, he managed to glance up at her, his look full of surprise and hurt. Those dark eyes he doted on and earlier stared at him so lovingly were now filled with resentment, deceit, and ridicule as she twisted the knife with all her strength and triumphantly tore his heart out of his chest-_

Kili jolted awake, drenched in cold sweat. He looked around in frenzy, taking in the details of the room and realising that it was the very same room as the nightmare. Yet no wound, blood, or knife were there now, not even _her_. Gasping for breath, he glanced at the clock on the table -4:47 a.m. His head slumped forward to shake off the dizzying aftermath of that blasted dream sequence. It didn't help any.

He stormed out of the room and into the bathroom for the third time that night to splash some cold water onto his face, examining his still trembling hands and his heart that pounded like a gong even four hours later. What the bloody hell was that? Yes, he had cornered her and said a few harsh words once more, against the fridge that time he had been sick, but this time his body and mind responded in unexpected, bordering on unhealthy, ways.

The feeling of the chilled water felt almost redemptive. His face rose and he stared at his reflection in the mirror; he was actually losing his mind. What kinds of dreams were those?

Sighing heavily, he walked back to his room and over to the big window. That view of the sea and the beach at night always offered him calm and clarity when his mind was racing. With the sole exception of this instance.

* * *

"What the hell happened?"

Kili lifted his head from his plate and glared at him. "How many times will I have to say it? She barely spoke all night!" he snapped. "What am I supposed to do, beg her to form sentences? Good riddance if she doesn't want to! Like I give a damn-"

"Humour me," the blond commented dryly. "Did _you_ try to talk to her and she didn't respond?"

"No, Fil, I didn't try to talk to her," the younger said with mocking voice. "She's been avoiding me for the past two weeks. We can agree it's a bit obvious that she doesn't want to be around me, let alone talk, don't you think?"

"So you didn't even ask her why she left?"

"I did, and that I give her. Joan Carter was there- Remember her, from school?" The blond scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Anyway," Kili waved off, "she was there and we were chatting and I left Arya alone to wait for about thirty minute-"

Fili looked like he may have given himself a facepalm if his hands weren't already full with slices of bread with chocolate.

His brother wasn't so much regretful of that anymore, at least not as he was last night. "Yes, I know, my mistake, _but_ I apologised," he said defensively. "And then she started saying that her company is unwanted, that I shouldn't have told her to come out with me and all that crap."

Fili renewed his portion by applying a fairly generous amount of chocolate spread on his slice of bread, shaking his head in mocking despair. "I can't understand you two, honestly. Just when you're so close to having it out, you end up worse than before."

Kili mimicked his brother's ministration of bread and chocolate, a mirthless chuckle evading his loosely clenched teeth. "Yeah, we don't seem to have much progress every unfortunate time we try to negotiate a truce." Mostly because all their attempts for truce related to the pleasure of hearing nails scratching on a chalkboard.

"Did you two eat all the chocolate again?" their mother's angry voice suddenly sprang from the door.

Both men hid the bread behind their backs and swallowed their mouthfuls with the speed of lightning.

"No!" yelled the blond, while his brother simultaneously pointed next to him, "It was Fil!"

Their mother glared at them both. "I have dessert to make for tomorrow," she warned. "If there's not enough chocolate left, I suggest you two find a place to hide." Two throats moved simultaneously as the two men gulped.

Upon her leaving, Fili shot his brother a glower that easily rivaled a flaming arrow and punched his arm with force. "You are such a tattletale!"

The brunet only swayed a bit on the tall stool and flashed a wicked grin at him. It quickly turned into a scowl, though, when another person materialized under the doorcase. She didn't seem well, if the dark circles under her eyes were any indication. Yet he was fast to shove the annoying feeling of concern in the deepest place of his gut and let his brother do all the worrying.

* * *

On Saturday morning, Arya gloomily reflected that the grey and cloudy sky uncannily mirrored her own drear thoughts. Her mind was trained to go directly to the worse after all these years of experience in the field of bad news, and she expected it any moment now. The only bright aspect of this was that she found no time to think about Kili. Which of course had a dark side; she didn't ponder on how much she had messed up the whole thing.

The stairs led her down to the kitchen, where two grown men were apparently going through second puberty judging by the sloppy chocolatey remains around their mouths. "Good morning," she greeted quietly.

Kili rolled his eyes, barely refraining from scoffing. "Only for you, apparently," he muttered under his breath.

She caught that, but didn't find the strength to respond.

Fili alternated gazes between the two of them, practically seeing the invisible, yet tangible line of heated anger that connected their entities, and moved to walk out of the kitchen, playfully ruffling Arya's already tousled hair on his way. "If you'll excuse me, I think the toilet's calling me," his cheerful voice chirped. "I'm coming, darling!" he then yelled at no one in particular as he pranced like a lion towards the bathroom.

Even if the other two initially laughed under their breaths at Fili's inventive attempt to skitter away from the kitchen, either to leave them alone or spare himself witnessing another fight, their faces hardened when their eyes locked.

The absolutely last thing Kili wanted right now was to be near that woman. An actual oxymoron, for being near that woman also was one of the top things he wanted. Of course, he wasn't so inclined to admit the second; one might say determined not to admit it, in fact.

"I see you're having a very productive day," he commented dryly. "Don't you have anything better to do than stare at me?"

That heated sparkle of challenge that had rekindled behind her eyes suddenly grew cold. "What is your problem?" she asked wearily. "Honestly, I don't understand why you're so upset, especially if we consider that you don't actually have a what someone could call warm spot for me."

Kili's casual look faded all too quickly, only to be replaced with a dark fury that made him look quite a bit like a black panther ready to pounce at her. "I for one," he began, all trace of calm gone from his voice and face, "would not exactly call it warm spot."

He could see that her breathing had quickened, and despite the relative coolness of the air, her cheeks were flushed. Her arms, slender and taut, were now tense and palms had balled into fists. The dim sunlight streaming through the kitchen windows wreathed her figure in a luminous frame that almost had Kili forget how to breathe.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she mumbled sarcastically, putting her hands on her hips, "what would you call it? Blind hatred?"

Kili shook his head in frustration. "Why are you so stupidly unwilling to make an effort to understand people around you?"

Creases of perplexity appeared across her forehead, but after a few moments of pensive silence she simply gave a shrug. "What's the point if they have no desire to understand me?"

"How could you _possibly_ know that? How do you know they don't want to understand you?"

"Can we stop this farce?" she asked tiredly. "If you're referring to someone in particular, say their name, don't generalize."

"You know exactly to who I'm referring to," Kili said heatedly.

"And why does _he_ want to understand me all of a sudden? I thought that, frankly, he doesn't give a damn about me," she mimicked his sayings of the night before. "His words, not mine."

"And what if he tries not to give a damn, only because _you_ don't give a damn?" he shot back. He didn't know why he still referred to himself in the third person. "Why should he even give a damn when all you do is avoiding him?" That was actually addressed to her as much as it was to himself. Why, indeed?

She took a deep breath, briefly closing her eyes to concentrate. "Look, I said I was sorry for all the trouble I've caused you," she sighed. "What more do you want?"

"Why did you do it?" he growled in exasperation. "What did I ever do to make you want to avoid me?"

Being cornered wasn't her best. And she had no good reactions whenever that happened; her only weapon was unfortunately sarcasm. "Shall I answer randomly or chronologically?"

"Arya!" The hand that viciously swatted the counter made her flinch back a few inches. "_Why_ the hell did you do it?"

"Can we please keep the conversation in human volumes and not howls?" And now she was stalling; quite lamely, for that matter. Her mind made its best to come up with something that wouldn't entail explanations –besides, only lies had detail. So the only option was to try and turn the tables. "And correct me if I'm mistaken, but why should I answer this? You didn't answer my question, either. Since when do you give a damn about me? I didn't know my sarcastic comments and I constituted an important part of your day and you missed us to a point that made you so upset."

Kili blanched and his eyes almost popped out of their sockets from a mild case of anger. To quote the Godfather, just when he thought he was out, she was pulling him back in. He'd found a way to demand a sensible explanation from her about her behaviour, but apparently the universe deemed that he had cornered her enough times in the course of two days. And now his turn had come to be fitted up as she wove her way around him, for he had absolutely no intention to reveal that, indeed, both she and her comments had become a quite important part of his day. No, no, his brain simply forbade it. Was he out of his mind? Quite possibly, yes. Why would he miss a woman that at times made him wanna strangle her?

"_Nicely played,_" a voice in his mind admitted begrudgingly, though the turn of their conversation didn't manage to befuddle him as much as she'd like.

They stared at each other for quite a while, none of the two averting their gaze. Until Kili had had it and stormed past her, grunting sullenly, "If you think this is over, you're mistaken."

Arya scoffed. She'd had more important matters to deal with than Kili's vexing methods of interrogation. "Bite me," she grumbled under her breath as he passed by her.

He didn't bother to feign even the tiniest amount of fear as he excited the room, only glanced at her over his shoulder and warned, "Considering it."

* * *

The rest of the day rolled in the same rhythms. Supper proved to be a buffer zone. Not another word was exchanged between the two, mainly because Fili and their mother were present, and also because only one of them had his gaze fixed upon the other. Arya had joined in the light chat, though there were moments her mind seemed to be far, far away and not in the present. Kili had noted how often she'd steal glances at her phone and how gloomy her eyes would turn after discovering no new calls or texts. It made his insides itch with curiosity –who did she expect a call or text from?

The scarce times her eyes happened to meet his, it was a miracle the circuit hadn't shorted out. After the meal, Kili silently withdrew in the peace of the garden to take it out on the soil, per his mother instructions to dig a few holes that were intended for planting elm trees.

Fili pulled his laptop out of the bag and firmly planted himself on a chair at the kitchen countertop. He didn't last to work more than two hours and swept up the stairs, eager to enjoy the only night he'd sleep in his double bed, since tomorrow night it would accommodate his uncle and aunt, while he'd share the thin mattress on the basement's floor with Kili. He was definitely not eager for that. His brother was _the_ lousiest sleeper, blissfully stretching to every direction with no care of the people next to him. He chuckled to himself when the thought of his brother sleeping, or trying to sleep in the same bed with his flatmate crossed his mind. Fili could recall countless times barging into Arya's room and seeing her sprawled upon the bed towards all four points of horizon, the duvet tangled between her feet and the pillows tossed here and there. No wonder why she and Kili had hit it off so well...

In a nutshell, Fili dragged his exhausted carcass to his beloved bed, Kili was out working in the garden, their mother was having a small talk with their guest and currently handed her a pair of old clothes to wear, and Arya grudgingly agreed to the polite request -grudgingly, not because she was bored to do it, rather because it involved collaboration with a certain someone who would certainly not be keen to acquiesce to it. After Desirée thanked her and retired to her room, she was off to change clothes, with the thought of her aunt viciously clinging to her mind. Eight times she had called since this morning and Rae hadn't answered yet. So much it made Arya worry, she was actually a step away from leaving this place and taking the first plane back home. And the birthday party be damned.

Nothing illuminated the yard except from a few lanterns here and there. The night chill did nothing to appease the anxiety and worry that had been warring inside her since the wee small hours of the day. Heavily, her feet brought her close to the lone figure that chopped the ground for the past two hours. Arya took a moment to study him, setting aside her troublesome thoughts. He seemed more at ease here in the garden than in a bar like the one they'd gone yesterday, tirelessly working under the moonlight, away from prying eyes and giggly, elegant women with décolletés that easily rivaled the Marianas Trench.

"How deep do we dig?"

Kili let the shovel slump on the ground, still holding it in his hand though, turned around and slowly breathed in.

She didn't appreciate him looking her up and down as though she was an exhibit. "What?" her weary voice demanded after a few seconds of intense staring.

"Don't recall asking for help."

"Who said I do it for you?" she huffed. "Fil's dead tired and your mum's back gives her quite the trouble, so she asked me to lend a helping hand if I can; said we'll finish it sooner together."

He looked deep in thought for a moment, then reached down to grab one of the spare mattocks and pointed it at her. "Do you even know how to use this?"

Arya stifled the urge to grab a shovel and bring it down on his head. "Yes, I know how to use this," she mocked, "and because we're procrastinating, just tell me how deep the bloody holes must be."

He considered her for one long minute before gesturing towards the one he was working at so far. "Like this one." Her eyes followed the mattock's route as he dropped it in front of her feet. "Make sure it doesn't take you more than fifteen minutes each. I'd rather not stay here all night just because you're not fast enough."

"Okay," she mumbled under her breath, shaking her head obediently, the faint conceit in his voice completely lost to her ears.

Kili quirked an eyebrow in surprise. She had nothing to say to this, just 'okay'? His head wiggled in astonishment; he didn't remember to be drunk nor failed to notice how... how- He couldn't find the right word to describe her. To put it mildly, she didn't seem well. To be precise, she seemed worse than this morning. To put it plainly, she looked like a ghost.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, he decided to fish for a proper reaction. "Is what I assigned to you for Friday ready?"

Arya barely lifted her head from where she worked, wondering what pushed him to ask this. Could he actually be in the mood for small talk after everything that happened? Jeez, talking about weird. "Not yet," she said with unsuspecting voice, absentmindedly almost, "there are a few more things I'd like to add."

"Good," Kili said seriously. "I want it ready on Tuesday."

"Okay." She didn't even pause to contemplate it. Her movements with the mattock remained practised and mechanical.

The tall brunet shook his head in a pensive manner, then forcefully dropped the shovel on the ground and almost pounced at her, four inches away from her fairly surprised face. "What are you plotting?"

She looked up at him in confusion. "Sorry?"

Kili couldn't stand the sight, those big dark eyes staring at him like this. For a moment he regretted talking to her in that manner. She couldn't have feigned this confusion so well, although he couldn't be entirely sure. "The last two weeks you've been avoiding me and refuse to tell me why, those two weeks you also accept everything I tell you at work without any complaints, and now that I'm asking you to have the project ready three days earlier than the original deadline –_three whole days_\- you have no objection, you just say 'okay'- Something's _gotta be_ wrong!"

She stared at him with wide eyes, her upper body leaned back, away from him and ready to act in her defense. "Yes, there is something wrong. I think you might suffer from paranoia, you should best see a doctor."

A crazed chuckle found exit from his mouth. "One way or another, I'll find out what's wrong, so why don't you save me the time and tell me now?" He had grown truly worried, despite showing it in his own weird way.

Arya gave a resigned sigh. "Kili, I'm not plotting anything, I swear. I'm just very tired, definitely in no mood to have that little war between us run on forever, and have a dozen other, actually serious problems to deal with, okay? Find someone else so you can drive each other crazy if you want, I'm done here. I can't take it anymore."

He didn't like this. He didn't like seeing her that way, as though all her vigour and esprit were gone and replaced by a physical and, as he correctly guessed, emotional exhaustion.

The speech, however, wasn't over. She looked at him in earnest, feeling a hollow space somewhere in her chest. "Yes, I avoided you," she suddenly blurted out. "No, I can't tell you why -I don't want to. Forgive me if it upset you so much, I honestly didn't expect it would. In turn, I asked you since when you give a damn about me and you didn't answer. If you wish not to answer, don't; it's fine by me. If you do, then go ahead, I'm all ears. Just accept that people won't always conform to your commands and are allowed to have secrets, and move on."

He was a bit at a loss. And there was a slight chance he had lost his ability to form coherent sentences. Before his mind came up with a fitting response she had returned to the task at hand and reverently chopped into the ground with the mattock.

"Hey, um, if you need any help with the shovel later, just... just tell me-"

"That would be unnecessary, thank you," she brushed off, not even bothering to face him.

Kili was left to stare at her, trying to let everything soak in and struggling to choose a few words from the momentarily poor selection of them that he possessed. His eyes raked over her figure as her quite taut arms worked the mattock, coaxing all the muscles of her torso to rhythmically budge under the black tank top she wore –well, at least it was black when she started. Stifling an ever so faint chortle, he noticed the old jeans she wore once belonged to him.

His head subsequently slumped forward in despair. He sensed even more dreams akin to the ones of the night before would visit him tonight as well. And the fact that she wore his old jeans, or how her top would rise with every stretch of her arms to reveal a small part of her torso did nothing to ease off his disconcerting notions about his sleep. He didn't realise he'd been staring at her for almost ten minutes, all immobile but blinking, until she clicked her fingers in front of his head and snapped him out of the daze.

"What are you laughing at?" she demanded angrily.

Kili quickly recovered his wit and drew his eyes away from forbidden places. His hand gestured towards the numerous blots of dirt across her shirt and arms, "Have you seen yourself?"

"Have _you_ seen yourself?" Arya countered with a mocking laugh, pointing back at him and his equally dirty clothes. "By the way," she continued with a wry look, showing him the progress she'd made, "does it feel nice, being outperformed by a woman?"

"You know, you should really look in a mirror before you call yourself that."

Apart from the twinkle that made her eyes gleam, he received no further warning regarding what was about to come. He barely registered her boot softly digging into the ground and then springing upwards, launching a fairly big chunk of dirt directly toward him.

* * *

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	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, guys! How you doin'? Thanks for all the feedback, it really means a lot! You make my days better and brighter, I swear. Sending bear hugs to all of you, wherever you are!**

* * *

The big chunk of dirt landed directly on his t-shirt, where a large brown blot formed within seconds. Kili cocked his head to the side, glancing down at the stain fairly unimpressed, and then at her with the scolding look of a disappointed teacher.

"Mind yourself," he warned. "Wars have been started over less."

"Ooh, I'm pissing myself from the fright!"

The brunet held eye contact for another whole minute, eventually stifling a weird laugh down his throat as a wicked idea began to form in his mind regarding revenge, and returned to the task at hand. After a while a shovel dropped on the ground and drew his attention. Nearly finishing digging the last hole, he lifted his head and looked at her.

"Alright," she panted out, dusting the dirt off her hands and arms, "you said fifteen minutes, I finished each one in less than ten. What do I win?"

He raised an eyebrow. "My esteem."

"_For which I don't give a damn,_" a little, annoying voice whispered in her head.

"I heard that."

"I did not-!" The surprise evacuated her face as soon as it had appeared, and was soon replaced by a scowl. "Oh, do me a favour and stop looking so pleased with yourself."

"How could I not?" Kili gave his usual smug grin, murmuring with all the certainty in the world, "Catching you off-guard certainly is a sight to behold."

The bugger had the nerve to actually wink at her then. It elicited a growl from somewhere deep in her throat, and for a moment she looked ready to leap on him like a tiger on its prey. She decided not to let her rage burst and give him the satisfaction of proving how much he affected her from time to time, though. Just when she had grabbed both shovel and mattock and was ready to place them above the rest of the tools that were gathered in a spot, a gush of water with quite the pressure showered her out of the blue and made her heart miss several beats.

"Son of a b-" It took her approximately fifteen seconds to get over the first wave of shock. Then she turned to look at him with a wild look, her mouth agape, and soaked to the bone.

Kili was standing behind with the hosepipe in hand, grinning like a cat at her dripping attire. "Can't say I didn't warn you."

Her ability to form coherent sentences was briefly neutralised and she just blurted out a furious huff, face turned red despite the coolness of the water. "You prick!" were the only words that managed to come out of her mouth.

And then it was like a tap opened. She proved rather inventive regarding the swear words she threw at him, since he acquired brand new information about certain parts of his body, as well as things that he could shove up there. She was too enraged to even take notice when her boot flung more dirt towards him.

Kili didn't look displeased with his current state, even if his front looked like it was covered with shit. He didn't have much time to ponder on it, however, seeing as Arya stomped off to the house with the fury of Wolverine, still swearing at him and wincing at the feeling of the muddy clothes clinging to her skin.

"A disorderly retreat," his voice noted in amusement as he watched her walk away. "I like that."

"That is no retreat," she growled under her breath, briefly glancing over her shoulder at him laugh. "I'd rather take an actual shower than stew in mud, thank you. Then, I _might_ devote some time to deal with you."

He found himself unable to wipe the smile off his face for the next five minutes. On another note, she was right. Not only she, but he as well could really use a bath considering the dirt and the mud on their clothes. But ladies first. He had to carry shovels and mattocks back to the shed; surely she would be done with the shower by then, right?

What he was missing was that she was a rather thoughtful person. She didn't dare enter the house with the muddy boots on and simply left them next to the door, hurrying to the small room where the washing machine was. She took the clothes off and held them, debating with herself. Should she do laundry? It was only a shirt and a pair of trousers that wasn't actually hers but still, she was responsible for getting them dirty. Perhaps Kili should help her. Half the blame rested with him after all. In the end, however, she resolved to rid herself of the mud and grime that had glued on her skin and do wash in the morning.

* * *

Tranquility. Unnerving tranquility, if Kili might say so, spread in the entire house. He had tossed his old work clothes in the hamper next to the washing machine and was currently hurrying up the stairs in the buff, grabbing a bottle of shower gel on his way, for he remembered that the other was empty. The door of the bathroom was half open and made no noise as he entered, his thoughts glued three rooms down the hallway, where he presumed a dark-haired woman was asleep. The sound of his steps was muffled by the plush rug that covered the floor and he faltered when, a step away from the tub, the shower curtain was suddenly whooshed aside by a hand, only to reveal the very naked manifestation of the woman he was thinking about on his way there.

"What the hell-?" she cried with eyes wide in surprise, clutching the curtain to cover herself. "Don't you knock first?"

Safe to say, there was no danger of them ever having a boring interaction. Kili would start to fear for the world if being in the vicinity of each other got more eventful with time. "I'm sorry!" he rushed to apologise, raising his hands in plea of innocence. "I thought you were asleep, I didn't know-"

"I just got in here!" she snapped. The eyes that weighed his response to gauge how honest it was seemed to migrate southward and take in his equally bare form. "Why almost every time we see each other in this house, you-" she stole another glance at a lower part of his body and, in a fraction of a moment, she'd gone all the way from astonished to predatory and back to abashed, "uh... you have to be naked, if not partly?"

Kili barely refrained from laughing. Her reaction was a nice long stroke to his ego -no pun intended. To rub salt into the wound, he put his hands on his hips, which did no less than enhancing the faint v-cut in his lower abdomen. "If you stop staring at _that_ spot," he said pointedly, "I may answer you."

Her eyes swiftly snapped up to his face in horror as she realised her embarrassing blunder. A mirthless sneer was the first response he received. "I stare at-" she scoffed. "You'd wish! Now, if you please," she shooed him away with a wave of her hand, "I think we got a bit over acquainted with each other the past day."

"That is the truth," he sighed in agreement before dryly adding, "The naked truth, in fact." Not lingering more, his hand moved up in front of her face to hand her the full bottle of shower gel. "I think you'll be needing that."

"Thank you," she mumbled with a curt nod of her head, remaining half hidden behind the curtain. And thus, her problem of lack of shower gel was resolved.

Grabbing a towel from the shelf on his left, Kili swiftly turned around and made to head for the door, yet sensed a pair of very fine eyes still gawping at him -or rather his bare backside. He couldn't resist laughing under his breath this time. "Arya, stop staring there and take your shower."

"Oh, ha ha ha," the voice of pride mocked, effectively hiding her inner flutter. "You seem to have a pretty big idea for your-"

All in the space of one second, he had swiveled around and was now standing dangerously close to her, still naked and with only the curtain separating them. "My what?"

There was a strained clearing of a throat that struggled to sound graceful. "For yourself," she finished.

"Mm-hmm," Kili shook his head, a smug look twinkling behind his eyes that looked like they brightened with every passing moment. He impatiently motioned her to get on with the shower before he turned his back to her for once more, wrapping the towel around his middle. "Don't take three hours in there, I wanna shower as well," his voice sounded as though he was grinning while he spoke. "Unless of course you wanna save water, in which case I'd better join you."

"_Well, that sounds like a splendid idea-_"

"_Shut up._"

Obviously the voices in her head didn't agree on the right approach of a reply. Therefore, the final one was, "How hurt would you be if I said, no, I'd rather lick the sand on the beach?" Although she actually regretted not accepting the absurd suggestion, just to revel in the petrified look on his face afterwards.

"Heartbroken," Kili dramatically pressed his forearm against his brow, able to stay in character for mere seconds before his whole body shook with a low chuckle.

Her body's response was practically automatic. Her subconscious had unwillingly indulged in many a dream inspired by the sight of a half-naked Kili smiling at her, so it was impossible to appear unaffected now. Although her mind commanded the fluttering sensation in her stomach and perhaps a bit lower to cease, those little bugs that created the whole commotion apparently thought otherwise.

The highlight of the event of course was that during his way out of the bathroom, he started humming a song quietly, which she acknowledged it to sound disturbingly like 'What goes around comes around'. He couldn't possibly have seen her tattoo, could he? On another note, perhaps it was a mere coincidence and she was actually mental.

With a groan of frustration she jerked the curtain shut to conceal the whole tub from a potential public view, hearing her heart beat a tad faster than normal and feeling that the shower she was just about to take should probably be a cold one. Granted, she may not have much experience in these matters, but she was still a functioning human most of the time.

* * *

Sunday morning dawned bright and promisingly fair; not for all, that is. The two brothers showered their mother with wishes and presents and by singing 'Happy Birthday'. Afterwards, she showered them with small slaps because they had eaten all the chocolate the day before, despite her warnings. As she rummaged through the kitchen in search of ingredients and her sons probably in the yard preparing the grill for the barbecue, it was their guest's turn to offer her wishes and present. It was a simple blue scarf, but she wholeheartedly appreciated the gesture and gave the young woman a warm hug. It actually made Arya feel like she was part of the family as well, although this sentiment lasted up until the other guests arrived.

But, no, no. Those weren't guests. Those were the _actual_ family, whereas Arya was in fact the guest; or more accurately, as certain someones –namely Thorin- acted like, an unwanted guest. At least Balin and his brother didn't seem so averse to her being around. The former was rather kind and, after Desirée's supposedly random and utterly false remark that Arya had the idea to make chocolate chip cookies, to which she responded with a questioning nod of befuddlement, Dwalin took a liking to the woman.

It had been her absolute- Actually, no, that wouldn't be the right word. It was more of a... grotesque, nauseating, run-the-other-way-if-your-life's-depending-on-it pleasure to meet the infamous uncle Thorin. The dude was so obnoxious, Arya couldn't decide if she genuinely liked his friend and Kili's godfather, Dwalin, or if the big burly man with the tattoos seemed awesome by comparison.

It got even worse when he learned about her previous job, where her then boss often worked in collaboration with Thorin's –it wouldn't be a stretch to say- archenemy, if someone took into consideration the scarlet hue on his face the moment He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was mentioned. A new round of subtle biting comments began, punctuated by the occasional laughter of some of the rest in the room who discussed about other matters rather merrily and did not dare join in the conversation of the two.

Although the grumpy, often constipated looking-like man's comments had ingrained themselves in her mind more than she would care to admit, Arya's pride had the fortunate habit of not allowing another person's opinion of her to affect her. The outcome of a series of unfortunate events during childhood or puberty was a natural façade of apathy –except for a few instances where she reached her limits- that proved incredibly pesky for the people she mustered it for, as well as enjoyable for her, judging by their reactions. Yeah, she could be a little pain in the arse if the circumstances so required, and she was absolutely fine with it.

Fili was discreetly watching the heated exchange with a balanced mix of shock and amusement, as well as Arya's constant glances at her phone and the subsequent unease they engendered. Something had happened, he didn't know what, but he was sure it wasn't good. He was ready to chime in any moment now to calm the spirits down, yet the doorbell was faster than him. So, when his uncle gladly walked away, he swiftly appeared to her side.

It was a miracle how Thorin hadn't stumbled on his way to open the front door, considering the death glares she was shooting behind his back. She noticed the blond approaching. "Now I can see where Kili's inherent ability to irk people came from."

The blond barked a laugh. "Come on, he's not so bad."

"Not so bad?" she scoffed. "Look, I know he's your uncle, but the man is- He is- I can't even find the words to describe it."

"It usually takes him some time before he warms up to someone."

Her eyes went wide. "Warm up?" she repeated in disbelief. "Fili, the nicest thing he said to me was that I should take a tranquillizer to keep my tongue at bay."

His hand reflexively rose up to his mouth, and he coughed to cover the chuckle that bubbled in his throat. "That does sound like him."

"Well, let me tell you something," the dark-haired woman fumed, "if I take a tranquillizer, _I_ will only calm down. If _he_ takes a tranquillizer, we will all calm down!"

Fili laughed again and squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. "Off you pop and change," he urged with a pat on her back. "I'm dying to see certain mouths hanging open when their owners see you in that dress."

She arched an eyebrow. "How did you know I brought a dress?"

He had the nerve to look offended. "You shouldn't underestimate me because I'm not meddling in things." He gestured towards his eyes then, "I know everything."

That was a look that belied his playful tone, and she felt like he was insinuating something beyond the topic of the dress.

* * *

It took her no more than ten minutes to change. When she was done she called her aunt again. No answer. Her head slumped forward into her hands -this was unheard of. Maybe she should leave and take the first plane to Turin. Her worry levels just broke her personal best record. With a heavy sigh she grabbed her bag to take it down where Fili and Kili had left theirs, since they would occupy the mattress in the basement and she one of the couches in the living room.

It had taken her no more than ten minutes up there and she was surprised to come down and see how many people had arrived. Among them, Luke and his parents, and also the woman who had the ridiculously close exchange with Kili in that pub two nights ago. Arya cringed. She had a bad feeling about this; almost as if the party had a predisposition to turn into a Greek tragedy.

"And there she is," Luke happily exclaimed as soon as she caught his eye.

Arya raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "You were talking about me?"

"Always the nicest things," he replied with a devilish smile and pulled her closer to introduce her to his parents.

They were oblivious to the tall form of someone who fiddled with the drinks behind a counter and kept a _really_ close eye on them. Heavens above, she should be wearing dresses far more often; not that Kili didn't like her in jeans and her worn t-shirts, or sweatpants even. Right now, she was... It was just a new experience for him to see her in a dress –a very enjoyable one.

He couldn't hear what they were saying, but it probably was something funny because they were laughing. He had to admit, it felt nice to be able to see her smile and laugh, even if someone else and not him was the cause of it. Much to his dismay, there were stirrings within him; stirrings of an alarming sentiment. Eight-letter word, starting with a 'j'. Let the guesses begin.

He huffed. He wasn't jealous of the people around her per se, but rather of how she seemed to be amiable with them without so much as a second thought, and not with him. Although they might have had their scarce, ever so slightly heated moments, the situation between them was always as complicated and eruptive as a live wire after a flash storm that secretly waited to be touched by a hand and roast it alive. He took a sip of his beer, eyes remaining pinned on her figure, until his mind was made up. He grabbed one bottle for her and determinedly strolled up to the small huddle.

At a random moment Arya felt an arm across her shoulders and a voice laughing next to her ear, "And how is everyone enjoying the party? Uncle and Dwalin are taking care of the meat, it'll be ready in a bit."

Kili had found a way to squeeze himself into a practically nonexistent space between her and Luke, while the latter's sole option was to sidestep as his friend took center stage. He handed her the beer, which she accepted with a nod of her head, while the hand thrown over her shoulders swiftly slid down and came to rest on the small of her back.

Arya flinched in surprise in response, almost choking on the beer as her head jerked to face him. What the hell was going on? Was that actually his hand? Did he get pissed already?

Luke's parents soon followed the rest out in the yard to offer their lights to the holy art of barbecue, in which Desirée, Thorin and Dwalin masterfully excelled, while the three young ones remained inside. They were soon joined by Fili, who seemed rather excited with someone's presence in the house.

"I think I'm in love," the blond declared and the other three shared an eye-roll. "That is one perfect b-"

"Oi," Luke warned, "there's a lady here."

Said lady almost doubled up, genuinely amused for the first time in three days. "Trust me, I've heard much worse over the past year and a half," she reassured. "The wall that separates our rooms is _disgustingly_ thin."

"And who is it this time?" asked Kili, fairly unimpressed.

"No idea, but I'm definitely planning to find out," Fili eagerly replied, his eyes searching for the centre of his attention. "There, the one with the red heels."

Three pairs of eyes scanned the place to spot the unknown woman with the red heels. Luke gave the blond's choice the thumbs up, while Kili refrained from commenting.

Arya, in turn, scowled. What an unfortunate coincidence that was. "I think that one's taken."

"What?" Fili whined. "How do you know-?"

"Ask him," her hand pointed at the man beside her, who by the way still had his arm around her waist. She really didn't know what to make of it -maybe he was possessed. "They came rather close two nights ago," there was a bitter undercurrent in her voice. "Chatting for about... thirty minutes, if I'm not mistaken?"

Her ability to think with clear mind received an even stronger blow when his grip on her tightened and he glared at her from the corner of his eye. It did not bode well for her, because her pride decided that she was not his property or something, and she glared back at him. Brief their small exchange proved, for she was rather agile and managed to discreetly free herself and put some distance between them.

Kili's eyes didn't leave hers. "Would you like to reiterate _our_ conversation of two nights ago to prove that's nonsense?"

His voice was intimidating, deep and gruff, and made her knees slightly weak. Although not out of fear... rather something else, much worse than fear.

The lack of reply mistakenly gave Kili the impression that he actually made her shut it for this once. Then he turned to his brother, "She's Joan Carter."

Fili vaguely recalled the name from a recent discussion. "The one from the pub?"

Kili nodded.

A sly grin spread across the blond's face. "Well, well," he exclaimed merrily, "it's a small world after all."

"The world is not small," his flatmate commented dryly. "It's just that you've slept with almost every woman in it."

"Aww," Fili reached out a hand and playfully stroked her hair, looking at her with a suggestively raised eyebrow, "is that a complaint, love?"

Kili resisted the truly overwhelming urge to elbow him in the ribs and limited to glower at him, though it appeared not to affect the blond's foxy grimace.

Arya shook her head in a quite dramatic manner, pretending to vomit, causing the rest to laugh. "You know," she sighed, "I'd answer appropriately right now, but my brain is just too busy bleaching itself to exterminate even the thought of what you're implying."

The cheeky smile did not abandon his face as he shrugged, "Your loss. Now, if you'll excuse me, it is time for me to conquer this fair maiden's phone number."

"Oh god," their female companion sounded slightly appalled, "please tell me you did _not_ just say that."

The blond didn't even grace them with a proper response. He only glanced at them over his shoulder and dramatically sighed, "You, people, are vile. Is romance completely lost to you?"

A minute later the first notes of Chuck Berry's 'You never can tell' hit the air, and a minute after that, Fili could be seen luring the woman into dancing, in imitation of the famous scene from Pulp Fiction. The sly little bugger. It made the other three laugh among themselves.

Arya's bliss under the sounds of the song was doomed to be short-termed. Her temporary peace of mind was interrupted by a buzzing in her hand. Looking down, she saw the name on the screen and her blood ran cold.

* * *

**See ya next time!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello! How you doin', guys? Hope you're great! Thanks to the people who read, followed, favourited and left a review, love and hugs to you all!**

**In this one we have scarce moments of the party, some fairly bad news, a sassy Kili, a few bits of sexual tension and, last but not least, a Thorin who's being a huge snob.**

* * *

Luke didn't fail to notice how the colour drained from Arya's face as soon as her phone rang. Kili had already hit a higher level. His eyes narrowed in suspicion as she stood there with the device in her hands, not answering. Brief her hesitation might be, though it proved enough to set him on edge.

"Everything okay?"

His voice snapped her out of her miserable daze and her shields rose to prevent a potentially emotional security breach. "Yeah," she said casually. "Do you mind if I get that?"

Both men nodded in slight confusion and watched as she clambered up the stairs.

Luke's gaze was the first to break away from the moving figure, whereas his friend still gawped at her. He let a big sigh. "On a scale from one to ten, how badly do you fancy her?"

Kili sharply turned to face him. "Who?"

The other's face fell. "The tapestry on the wall- Oh, for fuck's sake, Kili, this is so playground!"

"I don't fancy her! I mean, someone could say she's nice-"

"Oh, thank god," he sighed. "At least you admitted that you know exactly who I'm referring to, that's something. With such baby steps you'll ask her out in approximately... what, a decade?"

"I don't fancy her, okay?" Kili grumbled. "Why do you and Fil hold fast to that?"

"'Cause it's the bloody truth!" Luke cried in exasperation. "You know it, I know it, your brother knows it, the goddamn stones in the garden know it!"

"I don't think any of you know me that well-"

"We've known you since you were in diapers, and right now you act like you're in kindergarten. Remind me, when was the last time you ran around the whole town on a Sunday morning to find a bakery to buy doughnuts for a woman?"

Kili's eyes went wide before he realised his face was blushing. His ears were also blushing. Even his chest was blushing - well, that's new. And all his muscles had tensed up under his skin. They were probably fucking blushing by now as well.

"Oh, you thought that went unnoticed?" Luke quirked an eyebrow in amusement. He had seen Kili at the bakery and he vaguely remembered Arya's soft spot for the specific treat. Yet, if he were truly honest, his earlier comment was a shot in the dark. Though he was immensely pleased with how it turned out, if the expression on the brunet's face was any indication.

If someone had put bacon on Kili's head, it would have probably become deliciously crunchy by now. He was boiling. How other living beings apart from himself had become privy to that information was beyond him. But no, he had no desire to demolish his pride and give his friend the satisfaction of being right.

"What were you planning to do, lure her with sweets?" Luke quipped and by this point, Kili positively looked like a black panther.

* * *

Their voices quieted down as soon as footsteps were heard across the stairs. Upon her return she was wearing that deceptively deceptive, cold façade of hers that made Kili's forehead furrow in worry.

It was remarkable how well she had taken the news. But, no, no, she hadn't taken it in yet. It was still Phase One -denial. It probably wasn't her best, because she usually grew uncommonly and unreasonably angry even with the slightest provocation, however innocent and irrelevant might that be.

She approached the two men who barely noticed a flurry of a person past their shoulders and nodded something less than subtly at each other. "What are you two talking about?" she asked suspiciously.

The topic of conversation was swiftly changed to avoid potential humiliation. In fact, Kili reflexively said the first thing that crossed his mind, "Just that there's nothing sexier than a woman with legs that go for miles."

Arya seemed fairly unimpressed. "Sure," she agreed dryly, "if you have a thing for horses." And there it goes. Anger as smooth as velvet.

Kili considered her for a long moment with an examining look, wondering what made her so edgy all of a sudden. She subsequently indulged in a brief staring contest with him that could roast alive whoever dared to stand in the middle. Until her patience evaporated and she decided to walk away simply to avoid lashing out at him, with his gaze following her as she mingled with the crowd and disappeared from their sight.

Their little heated exchange made Luke feel like the third wheel, but the feeling ebbed away as soon as the woman walked away. "There," he urged his friend, "the ball is in your court now."

"What?"

"Why don't you go for a walk with her, keep her company... lure her with sweets, maybe?"

"Piss off," the brunet grumbled with a tired sigh, almost finishing his beer in one swig.

"She already spent half the evening staring at you."

She did stare quite a lot so far, a voice in Kili's mind agreed fervently, though his look verged on anxious. It wasn't just in head, right?

"Not to mention the digs about whatever happened the other night at the pub and our imaginary discussion of legs- Lame change of topic, by the way," Luke went on and, at Kili's furious look, stifled a laugh. His friend had no saving grace. "It's okay, you like her. Worse things have happened. Just go find her," he dismissed. "Talk with her. Don't bicker, if possible. Lock yourselves up in your room, go the whole hog-"

"You're vulgar," Kili huffed and defensively crossed his arms over his chest.

"Merely sensible," the other happily corrected and left his friend to his own devices.

* * *

It took Kili approximately thirty minutes to make up his mind and gather the courage to search for her. He hadn't actually thought about what he'd tell her, until he came up with something that could be described as efficient trigger for conversation. He didn't find her, though, and his spirits hit bottom. So he quit searching around like an idiot and instead went to grab another beer from the fridge, with the intention to follow the rest out in the yard.

On his way to the kitchen he passed by Fili, who seemed rather focused on chatting up his new passing fancy. Kili held back a snort. His brother had taken care of the playlist _oh so well_ –that scheming, smooth little bastard. Every other song was just fitting for couples and slow dancing. All this at a bloody birthday party.

The brunet's graceful pace came to an abrupt halt the moment he laid eyes on the lone figure that quietly sat beside the kitchen counter, picking at a cookie and drinking milk. She seemed lost in another world, perhaps a bit sad as well, although he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Arya was completely oblivious to the intruder. Her mind lingered on those evil notions that festered it and mainly the damn C word –and no, not the usual one with which she used to refer to a certain character from Game of Thrones. It made her insides clench, despite her aunt's attempts to convince her that in that stage, the survival rate was quite high. Still, there was little she could do to dispose of all her fears and worry.

"Not with your date?"

Her downcast eyes snapped up at the sound of the voice, and she stared at the speaking person in confusion. "Huh?"

Kili maintained his unruffled attitude and casually rounded the counter to get to the fridge. "I just pointed out that you're not with your date."

"Yeah, I heard you," she said blandly. "Who the hell is my date?"

"Luke," came his reply as he was preoccupied trying to grab a bottle from the bottom shelf. "Last I heard, you were going out. Shouldn't you be spending time with him at a party, and not sitting here alone?" Even if the room was poorly illuminated by the lights of the living room, he could discern her face changing colours.

Her hands defensively gripped the counter as he came to stand beside her. "I don't see how that's your concern."

"It's not, I guess," he shrugged, "but since we are on the matter... If you asked me, I'd never think he was your type."

Anger started to boil. "And if you asked me, I'd-" the exquisitely angry voice suddenly drowned in her throat, suppressing the '_think that all those you shag are not your type either_' and going with, "I'd tell you to mind your own business."

The short pause did not go unnoticed, although Kili preferred not to dwell much on it. "He's a good bloke. You're lucky."

She had a look of befuddlement. "He is indeed," she agreed, avoiding making any comment about the latter part of his sayings.

"And you two make such a lovely couple."

There was no mockery in his voice and it made her skin crawl with an unknown emotion, or rather a cocktail of several emotions, of which she lacked knowledge of the ingredients. Then her mind inadvertently pondered on how ridiculous his words sounded. They'd never been a bloody couple! They had gone for dinner or lunch a few times, there was the unfortunate incident with his sister and her boyfriend where he ended up spending the night in Arya's room and bed, while she spent half the night feeling uncomfortable and the rest of it fighting with Fili over a sandwich. And from one moment to another, her nerves regarding the damns she gave about what Kili would think had turned into the realisation that she had fallen bloody hard for him. It'd been more than enough to make her put an end to that little thing she had –or more accurately had not- with Luke. He was such a nice man and didn't deserve to be fooled in his face. Despite her attempts to make herself feel something, _anything_, for him, her heart was already singing for another. Damn, that was so inconvenient.

"It's a shame you're not attracted to him at all, though," Kili said indifferently before taking a generous sip of his beer.

If she were more focused on their talk rather than her memory of that fateful night, she would detect the undeniably smug tone. But she was lost. And the only response she gave was a thoughtful nod of agreement before mumbling, "Yeah..."

A nerve shattering grin spread across Kili's face, which he knew to always make her fist itch to punch him.

Her eyes went wide. "You- Who told you that?" she exclaimed frantically. "Of course I'm attracted to hi-!" She was intercepted by an arm stretching towards her and offering his hand. It had her completely off the scent. "Wha-?"

"That's a first," Kili said with unshakeable confidence. "I didn't know a simple offer to dance would render you unable to form complete sentences."

Arya was left staring at him in absolute horror. Between his awaiting hand and the bunch of people outside, she had half a mind to run away. "Thank you," she said gingerly, "but I'm not yet suicidal."

His aggrieved countenance was more than enough, but he decided to make it known anyway, "I hope you're feeling regret, because I'm actually insulted right now."

"I would hardly say so," she countered, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What are you plotting?"

"Uh, nothing?"

She was not even remotely convinced, despite how innocent his eyes looked in the dark. They made her heart beat uncommonly fast. "You can be so charming when you want something. The trick is finding out what."

"I just want you to dance with me," Kili cried in frustration. "Come on, put your hand on my shoulder, I'm not gonna burn it," he coaxed. "Unless you're afraid I'm that hot -pun intended."

Her head shook dramatically. "You are ridiculous, not hot." Lying alert. She actually worried that something the size of a car would land on her head as punishment for her little fib.

"And yet you're dancing with me."

Before her mind had time to process his reply she found her hand curled in his, her other hand resting on his shoulder, and his own placed on her waist _again_ and drawing her disturbingly close to him. All this while Nina Simone's incomparable voice echoed from the living room as she sang 'I put a spell on you'.

At that moment, a voice inside Kili's head had already exalted his evil genius of a brother to make that playlist about a hundred times, as well as his own timing.

"Enjoying ourselves?"

"Eh."

"It's a birthday party," he sighed. "What did you expect, Tomorrowland?"

She rolled her eyes. "I don't remember saying that it's not fun. I'm just not in the mood to have fun right now."

He frowned. "You don't like dancing?"

"Generally, yes. Right now? I wouldn't say so."

Kili's shoulders fell. "Glad to rock your world there, love," he commented dryly. The term of endearment, though mocking, came out on the spur of the moment and only when she flinched at the sound of it did he realise he'd said it. "Come on," he whined then, "stop sulking- Actually, wait, _why_ are you sulking? Is it because of Thorin? I know he's not a man for courtesies and might have sounded rude, but I'm sure he didn't mean to insult you."

A twinkle of disbelief made her eyes look older and tired. "Do I look like I care? Do you really think I care what anyone in this place thinks of me?"

The corners of his mouth curled, but he shooed the smile away from his face. "I doubt you care what anyone _anywhere_ thinks of you."

"Do me a favour and stop patronizing," she said with a weary sigh. "You barely know me."

He scoffed. "I know more than you'd like to think."

His quite grown stubble lightly scratched against her temple and he could sense the clear as day rigidness of her body. She was uncomfortable. He didn't like that. He wanted her to feel comfortable with him, not the exact opposite.

Her eyes curiously snapped up at him when she felt his hand rubbing comforting circles on the small of her back. He pulled her even closer when he realised that she had moved a few inches away, and she found her face shoved into his neck. Dear, oh dear. All it took for her inhibitions to fly out of the window was a mere breath. His scent put her mind in a coma. Not just his scent, actually; his arms, his hands, their proximity -or the lack thereof.

Surprise overwhelmed Kili when he felt her grip tightening. His own inhibitions were not in a much better state. His face was leaning closer to her neck now that her head was practically shoved in his, and that fresh, flowery perfume of hers set his nose on fire. He almost whimpered in frustration –thought himself to be going mental.

Arya had called up to arms all the restraint that was left in her. The news had made her hit rock bottom. She felt terrible, he was offering a wonderful distraction, and she was slowly relaxing, ready to indulge in her well shielded desires.

Yet her mind was strong. It recruited all its power to still appear sensible and unaffected. "I think you may overestimate your knowledge of me," came her steady voice two inches away from his face.

He had barely registered that she managed to move her head. "We can always fix that," he said in response.

The straightforwardness caught her off guard. The song was long over and they had ended up looking in each other's eyes, gazes hard and unyielding. The electricity they generated from the eye contact could possibly light the entire room. Her feet moved to step back and free her from his grip but, in a matter of seconds, she found herself once again trapped between him and the fridge.

She looked at one arm, then at the other, and finally at him, a bit unimpressed. "This is getting rather banal, don't you think?"

Kili didn't know why he'd done that. There was this ever so slight possibility that whenever he was cross with her, she _somehow_ managed to arouse him. This was insanity. His eyes hungrily roamed over her face, collarbones, neck and the top of the cleavage, and eventually came to land on her lips. Yes, he had a fetish and he was at peace with it. They were irresistible; drove him mad; they were calling for him to bite down at them. He momentarily felt so frustrated that it made him want to push her further against the fridge, just because he couldn't bloody help himself. And even if the worst hadn't happened yet –namely something in the south- his imagination was racing with images of all the things he secretly wanted to do to her if he could.

He almost whimpered again. He was turning into an actual pervert, wasn't he?

Her head tilted to the side in order to avoid his beard tantalisingly scratching against her face. One inch, just one more inch and she would head down the road with no turning back –literally the highway to hell. Her hands swiftly reached up to the stretched on either side of her head arms that kept her in captivity. Why? She wished she knew. It probably wasn't an attempt to shoo him away. Oh, who was she kidding? It _definitely_ wasn't.

And the constricted space she was confined in did not rouse her claustrophobia this time. Quite the opposite, it made her desire closeness, desire a reassurance that someone was there to make her momentarily forget and offer a few moments of blissful oblivion. She was craving those moments, even if they led to her utmost humiliation. But there was the last strand of restraint that had her mind still claim a hold over her heart.

Kili was rapidly breaking every record in existence. How he hadn't yet scooped her up to... _kiss_ her senseless -because all of a sudden he fancied himself too gentlemanly to use the 'f' word, damn him- was a feat that should have earned him a gold medal in Self-control Olympics. His hands were a step away from forming a pit on the metallic surface of the fridge considering the force he applied to keep them there until he'd come back to his senses. The fact that she had his arms in a death grip did not help him in the slightest. The room was too dark and he could only see her eyes, though he found himself unable to decipher what she wanted him to do. His gut told him that she wasn't trying to push him away, rather the opposite, but he stupidly refused to believe it.

"Ahem."

All the tangible tension dissipated into sheer panic at the sound of someone pointedly clearing his throat. Kili swiftly retrieved his arms and turned around to face the intruder, while Arya had seemingly put down roots against the fridge. A tall figure stood ominously under the doorcase with arms crossed, which Kili immediately recognised as his uncle –possibly the last person he'd like to stumble upon in his present state. If he'd learned one thing about his uncle all these years was when his look heralded a shitstorm. And this was just a perfect example. His protective instincts were roused, and he shielded the woman who was still leaning against the fridge directly behind him from what he feared would ensue.

"Sorry if I interrupted," Thorin said curtly.

"Unlikely," a feminine voice mumbled behind Kili's head and had him on pins and needles. It was one thing for him to contradict his uncle and another for her to do it. He admired her spunk to actually note the truth –that he sounded all but regretful- yet at the same time was ready to defend her in case that had caught Thorin's ear.

"Kili, your mother needs help."

"There are twenty people out there," the young one countered with clipped voice. "I'm sure mum didn't ask for me in particular."

"Don't make me say it twice," Thorin growled under his breath. "Go."

"Very well." The brunet grasped Arya's forearm and dragged her along with him as he headed to the door, only to have her pull it away from his grip on their way there.

"I am perfectly able to orientate around the house," she said calmly. "There's no need for a chaperon."

He fixed her with a pointed look, eyes pleading her to take the hint and tag along without a word just so he could save her from the wolf's claws. He had no problem getting an earful later, if it meant that she'd be spared.

However, Thorin was not one to tolerate the wait. "I said that your mother needs you."

"Yes, I heard it the first time," the young man said in annoyance. All joking aside, his uncle had grown grump_ier_ than usual over the past few months. Dwalin could well verify that.

"Then off you pop and go outside. You've been delayed long enough here." The glare he sent to the woman at the last two words was nothing less than murderous.

The brunet clearly fought a war within him. His eyes landed on the figure beside him again.

"I doubt I can be of any help out there," Arya brushed off in a whisper.

Kili looked at her for a moment that stretched stubbornly, if only to reassure that she'd be fine, even though she looked sadder than when he first found her in the kitchen. Hesitation was evident in his very posture, but he eventually retreated from his guarding post. He had every intention of returning to it later, though, and with a subtle nod of affirmation exited the kitchen.

She was already on her way out as well, quite eager to put as much distance as she could between herself and the minion of the antichrist. The man could easily pass for a demon, if someone considered the icily blue eyes and the inherent hostility he harbored for every human being within earshot -apart from his family and closest friends of course.

"Do you have a moment?" his voice made her feet stop dead in their tracks. "I'd like to talk to you."

Inwardly cursing her luck, Arya let a resigned sigh and turned around. "A few hours ago you told me to take a tranquillizer to calm down and now you're in the mood for a chat? Talk to me about what?"

"Don't play surprised and ignorant with me," he advised. "You know why." Only a blind man could not have seen how Kili had sandwiched her between himself and the fridge, or how he behaved around her the rest of the day.

"I'm afraid you are mistaken," she corrected him. "I really don't know."

"I warn you, I am not to be trifled with," he growled under his breath, eyes simmering with distrust. "I hoped it to be false alarm, but I can no longer turn a blind eye to what happens right before me. Is there something going on between you and my nephew?"

She almost laughed at the absurdity of his question, rather than choking on her own saliva, which would be a more appropriate reaction. "Beg your pardon?"

"I observed your interactions all day long and assumed that there is something going on. Although I wouldn't want to offend my nephew and his taste in women by believing this to be possible right away, I have to make my thoughts known."

The profound insult was intentionally brushed aside for the sake of her already destroyed nerves, and she calmly crossed her arms over her chest. "If you thought it to be impossible, I wonder why all the fuss."

"To hear it contradicted."

"Making such a fuss over it rather shows that these are not just assumptions, but confirmed facts."

"So you deny it?" No answer. He didn't appreciate that. "Am I mistaken, Miss Arya?" he demanded then, more persistent than earlier. "Can you give your word that I should have had and in the future will have no reason to believe this?"

"Of course I won't," she blurted out, as though his sayings were absurd -which, in fact, were. "What I do in my personal life does not concern you. What Kili does in his life does not concern you either. So I kindly request that you keep your nose out of other people's lives and mind your own business."

Thorin was seething. "Your mouth knows no bounds," he spat out scornfully. "I shouldn't expect something better from one of your class, though." Then he let a dark laugh and looked at her with all the disdain in the world. "I repeat, are you two together?"

Arya stared back at him with that unruffled look she had perfected over the years, which could make people with anger issues go berserk. "Only a minute ago you said it was impossible."

"Answer the bloody question!" he barked, swatting his hand on the counter for more effect, which elicited nothing more than a dull roll of her eyes. "Of course my nephews' lives concern me, you foolish girl!" he suddenly snapped. "You've already managed to lure Fili into sharing his house with you, do you think you'll have Kili as a fallback and pursue _him_ if that falls through? You think I'll let either of them be with a woman who's very likely after their money? Do you think I'll let you taint our family name?" He didn't give her any time to reply. "Tell me once and for all, are you and Kili in a relationship?"

"No," she said starkly. "Now, as exciting as this imaginary trial has been, I actually have more serious things to attend to."

On cue, she stormed out of the kitchen, trying with all her might to get her rage to die down. As if her own troubles weren't enough, now she'd had to face Thorin and his wild imagination.

Said man remained behind, murmuring inaudible curses under his breath as he paced furiously up and down the kitchen floor.

* * *

**I'm not very pleased with how this turned out. Perhaps I'll revise it if I come up with something new. Hope you enjoyed it, though, even if it's not that good. Drama to be continued in the next one, combined with lots of fluff. ****Don't forget to review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello, lovely people! Not much delay for this chapter, so phew! Thanks for the follows, favourites and reviews for the last one, even if it wasn't that good. Hope you'll like this one better. There's a bit of drama and lots of fluff as promised.**

* * *

Kili had rushed back into the house as soon as the supposed call of his mother for him to help proved a canard, only to find himself within hearing range of a little squabble. What the hell was going on?

"_...have Kili as a fallback and pursue _him_ if that falls through?_"

A loud, gruff voice somewhere inside the house drew his attention -a known voice. _Oh dear god, please _no.

"_...think I'll let either of them be with a woman who's very likely after their money? Do you think I'll let you taint our family name?_" A short pause. "_Tell me once and for all, are you and Kili in a relationship?_"

"_No,_" a feminine voice replied. "_Now, as exciting as this imaginary trial has been, I actually have more serious things to attend to._"

The brunet almost facepalmed as he witnessed Thorin channelling his inner Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Then he considered his options; granted, the man was his uncle, but that was a step too far. Also, Kili had been an adult by law for a little less than a decade, and absolutely capable of making decisions about his life. And the question remained, was she worth his uncle's wrath? Was she worth Kili confronting Thorin and putting him to his place? "_Yes,_" a voice replied truthfully in his head. "_Definitely._"

She didn't even bother to take a look around as she stormed out of the kitchen and disappeared somewhere, so the figure that hid in the shadows near the staircase went unnoticed.

"Are you serious? What the hell was that?"

Thorin recognised the hoarse voice as that of his younger nephew. Fuming as he already was, he swiveled around to see the tall figure looming under the doorcase with arms crossed determinedly over his chest.

"You don't even know her," said Kili with a wry laugh.

"Oh, and you do?"

"Better than you," he snapped. "She's not after money, or Fili, or, least of all, me! I don't even like the woman! And I'm pretty sure it's mutual."

"It didn't seem so earlier."

"How it seemed or not is none other's business than mine and hers. She's a guest and in the last six hours you've insulted her enough for a lifetime, so the least you have to do is apologise."

Thorin took a deep breath. "I only did this to protect you," he said pointedly. "Think of it more as a benevolent act. If she actually is after money, that warning was a good start to set back any possible plans of hers. If she's innocent, then my little meddling won't matter-"

"_Little meddling, my arse,_" Kili thought with a tired sigh.

"... and if she has some common sense," Thorin went on, "she will brush off those supposed insults. Although I don't see how stating facts is considered an insult."

His nephew stared at him in disbelief, agape. "How you manage to elevate your suspicion to beneficence is simply masterful," he said in wonder. "Still, that was rude. I imagine mum would agree with me."

That was enough to make Thorin flinch. His sister's wrath was something he would only wish upon his worst enemy –oh wait, actually, he'd done that already. "I don't care what you do in your bed, Kili. Just learn to tell the vultures and keep them out of the family."

Kili was half a minute away from flipping out. "From what I heard, she seemed pretty unaffected by what you told her, so I hope you've realised she's not after anything."

The only response he received was a huff of indignation as his uncle passed by him and stomped off outside, leaving him there alone to reflect on their little discussion.

* * *

A minute after she walked away from pure evil –namely Thorin- their small exchange was buried in the bottom drawer of her mind. Currently she was in search of a quiet place where no one would disturb her, just because she couldn't stand facing anyone right now. She wanted to be alone and process the information she'd got much earlier. The reaction to similar cases, at least as far as she was concerned, was a one-way road. There was only one way to get through this with as much dignity as possible; tested twice in the past, with guaranteed results -swaddle herself under the covers of her bed and sleep for two days straight. In the present case, however, many miles separated her from her bed and beloved comforter, therefore she relied on the second best option -a carefully regimented program of denial and listening to Metallica.

Well, that is, until she hit Phase Two -anger and acceptance. For the record, Metallica constituted an invaluable part of both phases.

Ten minutes into anger, she felt the need to turn away from the party business and take a walk around the neighbourhood to get some clean air, only to have her plan hindered by the unbearable pain in her feet. Yes, it'd been one of those rare times she decided to be a decent seven on the ladylike scale of one to ten, but sod it, she wasn't gifted with the ability to sprint in stilettos nor would she attempt to do that now just to confirm a fact. She just wanted to go for a really long walk, and she was _oh so ready_ to re-embrace the comfort of her combat boots, or whatever they're called, and which at the end of the day didn't make her curse like a pirate. On her way to the back door she switched shoes and then sneaked out of the house, into the dim lighted road, careful to avoid encounter with any human being.

* * *

The party was a success, the food and booze were even better, and almost all the people involved left having had a very good time. An hour or so after midnight the occupants of the house had already retired to their rooms, or more accurately Fili and Kili's rooms, while the two brothers had settled for the mattress in the basement.

Everyone was asleep. A peaceful silence filled the house from one side to another, and it was the first time ever recorded that Fili shared a bed with his brother and the latter hadn't spread across it like a flailing octopus. Mainly because he was still awake.

Apparently, sleep had no intention of claiming the tall brunet who fidgeted nervously on the mattress, and his brother's occasional snoring made it even more difficult. He couldn't get today's events out of his mind. He had scoured the entire house to find her after the incident in the kitchen to keep her close in case his uncle decided to have a rerun of that, but nothing. It was like she had popped into thin air. It grated on his nerves what she did, succeeding in making him lose her inside his own house.

The option of just calling or texting her to see where she disappeared was not included in his list of things to do, though, so he naturally dropped the hint for his brother to take the initiative. The only reply they received was a text saying that she'd gone for a walk and would return later. Kili had actually seen white spots in the corners of his eyes. If it weren't for something in his brain holding his body back, he would go after her, sure as hell.

Damn, he was tumbling down into a pit of shit and there was nothing to intercept his freefall. The collision in the end would be the worst. Shattered bones, blood everywhere... Humans were no feline animals after all; they seldom landed on all fours with so much as a hurt paw.

A small part of him was screaming that he had it bad. Had he been braver he might be able to admit it to himself. But he was not brave enough, mainly because he wasn't even remotely certain that Fili and Luke, or Thorin even, were right on what they told him. Come to think of it, perhaps they weren't at all right and their constant reminders or hints that he had feelings for her and she for him might as well be nothing more than guesses. What if they were outright mistaken and Kili threw his heart out in that pit, only to have it squashed?

On another note, maybe he was just over-analysing things. And as per usual, analysis demanded a smoke. He grabbed the packet and the lighter from his side, clambered up the stairs, and within seconds the midnight breeze hit his face as he stepped out to the porch.

After taking a long drag and letting the addicting taste fill his mouth and clear his head -or perhaps cloud it even more, he wasn't sure- he caught a faint sound coming from somewhere close. A familiar one, sounding disturbingly like Metallica. A swift turn of his head and there she was, perched on the porch swing that someone must have probably glued her to, her head slumped forward and sheltered between her knees. She had no idea he was standing there.

Curiosity got the better of him in the end and, before he knew it, his feet had covered the small distance that separated them. He pulled the headphones from her ears and her head jerked up. He saw her eyes squint in recognition and swiftly regain an unimpressive gleam.

"It's you."

"Yes, it's me," he said pointedly. A light sniff was heard then from her place and he noticed her hand wiping something from her cheek. "Hey, are you-?" his previously gruff tone gave its place to a softer one and he almost lost it there for a bit. "Are you crying?"

"Don't expect me to recite the crappy excuse that I've got something in my eye," she said with a glower. "Yes, I'm crying."

Kili sat in stunned silence, trying to gain his bearings opposite to the emotional opening up he was witnessing.

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "How come you're not asking why?"

"It was recently pointed out to me that I shouldn't force someone to tell me what's wrong, or get angry with them for not telling me, and also that everyone has secrets," he said in earnest, taking another long drag. "I'll wait until you wanna tell me yourself."

It slightly threw her off. "Yeah, that's not gonna happen soon," she waved him off as soon as her brain began functioning again, "so allow me to relieve you from your watch." Then she stood up and turned away from the porch.

He reflexively followed. He had absolutely no intention of leaving her alone. What if she was just testing him and if he left, she'd be even more hurt and find another shoulder to cry on? Oh, no. No, no, no, _no_, Kili wouldn't want that at all. By staying with her, he was telling her that he cared about her and her emotions.

However, he'd reckoned without his host, because when this particular woman sought solitude, she actually meant it. It wasn't after long that she realised he was literally two steps behind and came to an abrupt halt. "Oh, for fuck's sake," she snapped impatiently, "has your evil master plan turned from private war into haunting? Why are you chasing me around like my sins?"

Kili was not to be moved by any threatening attempt of hers, intimidating or fear inducing as it might be. "Are your sins as handsome and gentlemanly as I am? I think you'd really enjoy a stay in hell then."

It took considerable effort to refrain from rolling her eyes. "Does smugness run in the family?"

"Nah," he brushed off. "Just trying to get you crack a smile by making a fool of myself. But apparently I haven't made enough fool of myself yet."

Still, no smile. Quite the opposite, she seemed fairly irked. "You know," she muttered in annoyance, "in moments like these, I don't really fancy chit chat."

"Yeah," he shot back sarcastically, "as opposed to moments unlike these."

This time she couldn't hold back a whimper as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Can you please go away?"

He ground out the stub of his cigarette in the ground under his shoe. "Arya, people don't just go and cry without reason," he said seriously, a bit louder than before. "And you don't strike me as the type who sheds a few tears just for the sake of it. Answer me only this, does it have to do anything with my uncle?"

"No, it doesn't. Now, can you just let me be fucking miserable and not make me feel worse about my plight?"

His eyes followed her arms' movements as they crossed over her chest and she stared back at him almost... defiantly. He got the slight impression that she wanted to keep on arguing, just to keep her mind off of what was that troubled her.

She might have yelled at him before, though it never happened with the vehemence of this time. During the past few hours, she'd gone from shock, via denial and depression and, surprisingly enough, hunger and randiness, to a frothing rage. Having to deal with questions, on top of all, proved a mite too much for her. It was almost impossible to take in that he cared about her and simply worried. The tenacity to stay alone with her thoughts and troubles shocked her; it bordered on the unnatural.

Unable to control any bodily functions, she lowered her head in shame. "I'm sorry," the words came out unprovoked and improvised, punctuated by a deep breath, "I didn't mean to yell."

Standing on her opposite like a newly formed pillar of salt, Kili was a step away from believing that he'd travelled through spacetime to a parallel universe. The entire scene was more than enough reason to cause concern. An idea suddenly popped into his head in order to defuse the electrifying tension. "May I ask what your plans are for the rest of this fine evening then, since you're clearly not in the mood to sleep?"

"Besides roaming around like a ghost and yelling at people who try to make small talk? I don't think I have any."

Fingers rubbed his chin thoughtfully to add a dramatic splash, until a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "In that case, I lay claim on you."

"Wh-?"

"No time for small talk," he quipped over his shoulder as he skittered to the house and a moment later Fili's car keys were tossed directly onto her hands. "Get inside and wait for me. You may as well leave your dry wit here."

He barely suppressed a grin when he saw her face turn a little red then. He had meant for that last comment to sound casually insulting and it hit her just right.

"_Who're you kidding?_" a wry voice commented in his head. "_You were of course trying to flirt._"

"_Piss off_," another, fairly annoyed voice shut down the first one.

Now it was his turn to go all crimson and flushed. What the hell? Was he-? Did he just admit that he was flirting with her?

Sweet mother of all that was good and pure, he was losing his mind. No, no, no, impossible; the very last thing in the world he wanted to do. Flirt with her, that is.

Yet as she reluctantly walked out of the yard and onto the street, he could not tear his gaze from her. He nearly smacked his head for thinking back to their little moment in the kitchen hours ago, how her eyes gleamed in the dark, her perfume, or how she was pressed against him and he could literally feel her heartbeat against his chest, amongst other, squashier things-

Alrighty, that was enough perversion for one day. He elected to throw all the blame on his lack of intimacy. This was merely the basic desire of someone who hadn't got any for a while.

He shook his head to get rid of those disturbing notions and sneaked back into the house to gather the necessary supplies, though failing to get rid of the most recent image of her eyes. The second he hopped in the car and saw her curled on the passenger's seat with arms draped around her folded legs, he pinpointed the difference. There was something dark and gloomy in them; it made him feel a little out of element, because he'd got too used to the exuberance they usually radiated, not to mention a _certain_ kind of excitement they caused every time she so much as glanced at him as if she wanted to either throttle him or shag his brains out -he was sure it was the former, although sometimes he caught himself wishing it was the latter.

His grip on the steering wheel tightened suddenly, and he shook his head to get rid of these thoughts as soon as possible.

"If this plan of abduction of yours leads to murder, you may as well be done with it already," Arya commented dully, sparing him the inner battle with his body. "I'm bored."

He didn't know why, but she had a way with words that put him at ease. That was their default mode and he found it too hard to even consider it changing. "It's not abduction when the travelling companion agrees to go for a ride."

"I don't remember that happening. I only recall you ordering me, not me agreeing to that."

Kili looked at her from the corner of his eye, noting that she still stared out of the window. "Well," he shrugged innocently, "you didn't disagree."

"What would be the point? Another quarrel?" she wondered. "I'd much rather sit in silence and be at peace with my mind, even if it's you sitting two feet away."

Half his attention was on the road and half on her as he continued looking at her sideways. Even though the comment was aimed to offend him, her tone disagreed. He didn't know how to feel about that. What he could certainly feel, though, was the awkward silence that engulfed them and enhanced his eagerness to break it.

"So, Metallica then?" he blurted out. Granted, it was lame, but it was the first thing that popped in his mind.

That drew her attention from the landscape outside and made her turn to him. "How did you-?" She seemed to regret asking within seconds. "Never mind," she sighed then, "it occurs to me that you may actually know a lot more about me than I'd like to think."

Kili laughed under his breath. "But as you so kindly noted, I'm not entitled to that privilege as yet. And I know, cause I'm sure the rest of the neighbourhood could hear it as well. It's a miracle you aren't deaf yet."

The admonishing tone made her question him even more. "It calms me down," she said matter-of-factly.

"Metallica calms you down?"

"Well, let's just say that sometimes you want something loud to cover all the other voices in your head."

"Look, I don't doubt it may help you, but I think it'd be better if you didn't try to toast your brain to shut down these voices."

Having nothing to say in reply, she simply lowered the window so the breeze hit her face, and fixed her eyes at the sea that shone dark into the background.

"Radio?"

Not even bothering to turn, she merely shrugged to let him know how many damns she gave; none, that is. And that was her big mistake.

As soon as the radio was on, a song was just about to end and a new one to start. The first notes hit the air and, had she been electrocuted her neck would have twisted less jerkily.

"_The world was on fire and no one could save me but you..._"

The _horror_. Arya alternated her gaze between the radio and Kili, wondering if the universe had placed some kind of bet against her. Of all the songs in the world, did it have to be _that one_? It still haunted her from that bloody night.

"Can we change that?"

The brunet shot her a weird look, but made no move. "Why?" he asked curiously. "It's a nice song."

"Yes, I know, but can we please change it?"

He turned his eyes straight ahead on the road, adopting a stern face. "You didn't seem to care much a minute ago, so I'm afraid you'll have to just sit quietly and listen."

She muttered something under her breath which he failed to hear, so he simply settled to smirk to himself, basking in his temporary triumph. That was _his_ own big mistake.

"_What a wicked game to play, to make me feel this way. What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you..._"

Kili's eyes went abnormally wide. The lyrics that described just right his inner state of conflict hit him right in the feels. Talking about creepy there.

"_No, I don't want to fall in love with y-_"

All of a sudden the music dissipated into silence and Arya watched as the brunet nervously fiddled with the button, avoiding her gaze. "I said change the song, not turn off the radio."

"It's fine," he brushed off and slowly hit the break. "Besides, we're here."

"We're where... exactly?" she curiously peered around. There was nothing but the road, the beach and plain sea. For a fraction of a moment, she was actually scared. "Oh god, you're going to chop me up and throw me into the sea, aren't you?"

Kili stared at her with pursed lips before cracking up. "I think Hannibal has a really negative impact on you," he noted as he got out and rummaged around a big bag at the back seat, stealing glances at her all the while and watching her watching him.

He emerged two minutes later holding a thin blanket and a little box. Without gracing her with a reply he gestured her to follow suit, until he stopped and spread it over the sand, nodding her to sit.

"Ever so chivalrous," Arya commented as he plopped down next to her.

He shot her a glare. "Someone could say that, yes."

"I just said it."

"Without the sarcasm."

She gave him her most innocent look. "Impossible."

"I thought I told you to leave the dry wit behind."

"Well, you seem to bring it out in me."

Kili didn't give their banter a chance to continue. Just for this once, he'd rather enjoy her company in the ways of normal people. "Do you like it here?"

"Mm-hmm. It's so quiet," her voice was barely above a sough, punctuated only by the soft splashing sound of the water.

"Dad used to bring us here when we were little. We'd bring a carload of supplies and wouldn't budge for a whole weekend," he laughed. Something shone in his eyes then and his tone turned wistful, "They were good days."

A moment ensued where, surprising even herself, she didn't mind him sitting with her when otherwise she'd been too busy struggling to convince herself for her indispensable need of solitude. Her thoughts wandered off after that, to other people and places, and different times. She couldn't decide if they were better or worse.

"You think the world would be better if we were exonerated of thoughts, responsibilities and all that?" she asked suddenly, fingers idly fidgeting with the fabric of the blanket as she stretched her legs in her front.

"Do these philosophical inquiries happen to torture you often?"

"Come on, you tell me you wouldn't want this?" her hand gestured around them. "Just sit on a beach and gaze at the sea without a single care in the world?" Then she scoffed, "I know I do."

Kili studied her face for a while, noting the expectant look, but decided not to fib and be straightforward. "I think the sooner you step off that little cloud of yours and face the reality, the better."

"Wow," Arya mouthed in astonishment. "And I thought that between the two of us, I was the cynic one."

"You _are_ the cynic one," he pointed out, "at least when it comes to certain matters. I'm just more of a realist." His eyes locked with hers. "Show me the heart unfettered by foolish dreams and I'll show you a happy man." She broke into a delighted laugh once she caught the reference, although he noticed she broke the eye contact when it became too intense.

"But only in their dreams can men be truly free. 'Twas always thus and always thus will be."

His head tilted wistfully to the side as his mind travelled back in the 90's, the first time he'd seen Dead Poets Society.

But then a voice pulled him back to the present, "Is your heart unfettered by foolish dreams?"

The corners of his mouth curled. "I'm trying to be a happy man," he replied. "Not all efforts pay off but, still, you can't have it all ways. What about you?"

"If I'm happy?" He nodded, which for reasons unknown made her laugh again. "Well, technically speaking, I'm alive and healthy, even though my nerves and sleeping habits might suffer a bit. Yet happiness is not a continuous state, at least from the way I see it. Too many variables there," the smile faltered when she winced, as though she wasn't particularly pleased with the presence of so many variables in her theory. "It's... moments. Scarce moments, but they still exist and simply don't allow the bad ones to overshadow them."

"Interesting approach," he noted attentively. "Right now, this moment, you reckon it's a happy one?"

"I wish I could answer that with honesty, but right now I feel like the universe has formed a gob and is steadily spitting it on me."

Kili laughed at the unnecessarily graphic description and she joined in.

"I like the laughing Arya."

She turned sharply towards him, sheer disbelief evident on her face. There were people who had described her as good company and found her quite charming as a result, although those who had offered a compliment eventually learned that this was in no way an effective tool to get into her good graces. In any case, he didn't pass as someone for blarney and blandishments. When it came to her at least, if he had something to throw at her, he'd do it without second thoughts.

"Where were you the past two nights?" he mumbled wryly. "Back at work?"

"Evidently," she agreed, her finger absentmindedly drawing random patterns on the damp sand out of the blanket's borders. "My laugh mustn't have caught the bus in time."

Kili was silent for a second. "The bus?" he mumbled thoughtfully. "Didn't you take the train here?"

"Nah, it's not my preferred means of transportation if I can help it."

"Why? Trains are far more comfortable, and fast."

"My family died in one."

The breath that was ready to come out stuck in his throat. He had not seen that coming.

"For the record," she swiftly changed the subject, "you, too, are a lot better company when you're not all high and mighty and a pain in the arse."

He raised an eyebrow, "Was that a compliment?"

"Alas, I hoped clarification would be unnecessary," she sighed dramatically. "Yes, Kili, that was a compliment. Take it or leave it."

It was no great news that he felt rather pleased with himself. Without a word or pondering further on it, he grabbed the box from his side and placed it on her lap. "Do those help at all in making this a happy moment?"

Her head tilted and she stared at him quizzically, with a tiny hint of suspicion thrown in.

"And no," he huffed the moment she was about to speak, "they're not poisoned."

Her nose crinkled as she hesitantly reached out to grab a doughnut from the box, avoiding lifting her eyes up to his and instead looking ahead again. "You should have brought me lemon pie," she scolded, although he could almost hear her smile. "I'd _love_ me some pie."

Kili reached to take one for himself and turned to stare at the sea as well. "I'll keep that in mind for future reference."

She sighed. Then she sighed again and her head wiggled in confusion. "Why are you doing this?" she demanded, her eyes roaming over his face. "Why are you... being nice to me?"

"You mean to say, why am I keeping you company and trying to cheer you up when you're sad and obviously have something serious trouble your mind? Because I hope it's what you'd do for me if I were in your place."

In fact, he had been in a similar situation a few years ago, right after his father's death. He didn't have anyone to comfort him back then, mainly because his mother was struggling to cope with everything, and also his brother was doing his MBA and had to deal with his own grief as well. Kili didn't want to burden anyone else with his own problems, so he kept it to himself.

Arya remained silent, trying to assemble all the pieces of her once whole brain. She really wanted to say something, even _do_ something, but apparently all her reaction mechanisms were temporarily out of order due to heart malfunctions. Whatever it was that he did, it seemed to bring results. It had only taken him a few months to sneakily dismantle seven years spent fortifying a wall around her heart. And that wall was starting to get breached just about now.

It happened unexpectedly, out there at the beach, under the night sky, where they had just been sitting and Kili was gradually scooting closer, seeking to break the emotional brick wall the woman beside him was. Something shifted across the blanket where his hand rested, and he suddenly felt something touching his fingers.

It was a tad cold. And it was her hand. Whether she did it on purpose or not, he couldn't tell, because they were already sitting close enough for accidental brushes of fingers to be inevitable.

Heavens above, he was blushing. He was fucking blushing _again_. His eyes momentarily closed in embarrassment as an internal monologue of swearwords began, regarding his inability to control the blood circulation of his face, as well as another damn thing called heart that seemed to pump even more blood literally to every part of his body.

"Don't try it."

"Sorry?" he asked in confusion, thinking that she had already elaborated on something he failed to hear. "Don't try what?"

"Don't try to help me, or understand me," she said quietly and he frowned. "You'll probably fail."

He looked offended. "How so?"

"Sometimes I can't even understand myself and you think you can do it?"

There was no conceit or arrogance in her voice, just sheer confusion. "Yes," he answered simply.

"What if you fail? You will have lost your time."

"It'll worth the try and time. But aside from this, why don't you want people to try and understand you? What are you afraid of?"

She shrugged, "I am not afraid of something."

"Then why do you hesitate to let them?" Something in his tone felt amiss, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was.

"Because _they_ might be afraid of what they'd find out."

"Personally, I would be shocked and afraid, only if you drunkenly started begging me to give in to your indecent proposals."

Arya scoffed. "How you manage to bottom the topic in just one sentence is beyond me."

His chest puffed out proudly. "A petty one amongst my several other, admirable talents," he dismissed with a wave of his hand and the smuggest look anyone in this planet ever employed. "See?" he asked then, pointing to her laughing face. "Making a fool of myself to make you laugh works after all."

She did not dignify this with a proper response other than a light shake of her head. And then, out of the blue, an ingenious idea -or so it was in her head at the time- made her eyes beam. She drew her gaze from the sea, looking at him expectantly, "So are we going swimming or what?"

* * *

**That's it for now, stay tuned for the next one!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello, lovely people! So sorry for the week long delay, but things got a bit hectic here and I ****barely ****found any time to write. Yet here I am, with a new delivery! Thanks for the follows, favourites and reviews, they really keep me motivated!**

**This one is mostly fluff, mainly because there be drama in the next one.**

* * *

_"So are we going swimming or what?"_

Kili's sense of triumph for making her laugh dissipated into mild shock. His mouth had a wonderful shape of 'o' once he realised that wasn't a joke. "You're not serious, right?"

She pouted in response, despite herself. "Why not? The water is literally ten feet away. We ought to take up the opportunity."

"This is not the Mediterranean, Arya, this is the North Sea," he reasoned. "It's quite cold to swim yet."

"Invigorating," she countered, "that's what it is."

Shoes were kicked to the side, and before he could realise what was happening Kili found himself in the midst of a 50% unwanted and 51% wanted situation –if that was mathematically possible. It wasn't, he knew it, but he couldn't explain it in any other way.

His eyelids shut to help him suffer the torture with dignity -a paradox, of course, for he certainly _did_ like and enjoy that particular torture. He ventured an eye open, seeing that she was halfway in taking her dress off. "Arya, you'll freeze-"

She glanced over her shoulder with a fierce look. "I often went winter swimming in the past, so spare me the warnings."

"We're talking about winter temperatures in late May, not December or January."

"Oh, come on," she protested, "don't be a chicken."

He cocked his head from side to side, wondering why he even bothered to reason with her. "I'm not a chicken," he sighed, "just trying to put some sense in your head."

A haggard breath escaped his lungs as soon as she was left only in matching black knickers and bra. His hands balled into fists to prevent him from ripping off her underwear and wrestling her down on the blanket. It took all his self control. But no, he wasn't that kind of man; plus he wouldn't want sand getting up in places that no one would like to have sand in. He coerced his eyes to look away and with a resigned sigh started stripping himself off his clothes, ending up only in his underwear as well. Good thing the water was chilly, 'cause a cold shower would be a must in a few seconds.

When his eyes searched around, they didn't find her. The sound of bubbles drew his attention a moment later as her head emerged from the water. She was fast, he had to give her that.

"Damn, that's cold!" she shrilled, hands frantically rubbing up and down her arms to warm them up. If she had balls, they would be shrinking just about now.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," he chirped and looked at her unimpressively before diving into the water himself.

She watched as he reached the surface after spending a good half minute underwater, tossing his hair out of his face like a model in a L'Oréal commercial. Oh sweet mother of all that was good and pure. He looked exquisitely delicious half naked under the night sky, his hair a wet, tangled mess.

Thoughts akin to these took up residence in his mind as well. Water drops slid down her face, neck and collarbone and the sleek from water hair wreathed her head in a dark halo that almost made Kili's mind erase the process of breathing. He swallowed tightly and resisted the urge to reach out a hand to touch her face, only to verify that he was indeed living this and it didn't just happen in his imagination.

She looked up at him and they stared at each other for a few seconds before she dipped her head underwater, breaking eye contact. It made him avert his gaze as well. The song on the radio from earlier rang in his ears and reflexively his mind recalled its video clip. No, he didn't want to make a new adaptation of it right now, with himself and her as Chris Isaak and Helena Christensen respectively. No, that wasn't _at all_ what he wanted. No. Just no.

...

Alright, maybe a little.

Good Lord, he really had to shut down his brain from producing such images. He vividly shook his head to rid of those evil notions and took another dip, opting to cool himself down. And no, the almost freezing water wasn't enough to make the fire that kindled in his gut die away.

* * *

Heavy dark clouds were looming not too far in the horizon, partly shielding the starlit sky from reflecting on the water surface. A light breeze blew from the north and pushed the grey billows closer to the shore.

They hadn't talked much since then, instead focusing on swimming around for a while, if someone excluded the two or three times Kili splashed water all over Arya's face and she retaliated by trying to drown him. She might have succeeded had he not noticed her shiver. And all of a sudden, he got much happier than social rules obliged.

"Cold much?" he asked in amusement.

A glower was all he received before she turned her back to him, idly swimming towards the shore. He swiftly followed after her, watching how she sprang out of the water and trudged to where their stuff lay. He was a man, alright? He knew this wasn't a nice sounding excuse to female ears all round the world, but it was inevitable not to catch even the tiniest glimpse of her as she walked.

Yeah, she was quite fit. In the course of mere seconds and much to his woe, he acquired a new fetish –her shoulder blades. The sight of them did strange things to him; things that in no way he'd like to experience right now. Something else quickly drew his attention away from these thoughts, though, and he smiled.

He got out of the water with a grin that could easily rival that of the Joker's, making it to their stuff before her. Unfortunately there were no towels at hand, so they'd have to settle for the blanket to dry themselves off.

"That was quite invigorating, don't you think?" he laughed, tossing his head from side to side and spraying seawater drops everywhere.

"Dude, I had an idea. Perhaps it blew a little. Don't rub it in my face."

His hands rose in apology as she stood in front of him, waiting for him to pass the blanket once he was done.

"Didn't know you have a tattoo," he lied, sounding rather casual and innocent.

"You-" her mouth opened, probably to protest, but swiftly shut. What right did she have to protest? It was her idea to go swimming after all, he could have easily noticed it if she'd turned her back to him. "Well, now you do."

"I've got two as well," he showed her his arms.

"Yes, I know," she said coyly. "Noticed them one of the several times I happened to see you half-naked."

Kili stifled a grin, unable to refrain from puffing his chest out a little.

Her eyes studied him as he stood there with hands casually placed on his hips, rather smug, definitely not cold and dripping water like a polar bear that had just enjoyed a nice dip in the Arctic. She waited quite stoically while he dried himself off. Much to her chagrin, he didn't make a gesture to give her some time with the blanket as well.

"Don't we have joint custody of the blanket?"

On cue, he threw it over his shoulders and arched an eyebrow. "Oh, now you want the blanket? And I thought _I_ was the chicken."

She rolled her eyes, sighing, "Never mind, the dress will do just fine."

Before she even made a move to grab her clothes a hand reached out to pass her the blanket. With surprise etched all over her forehead, she grabbed and immediately wrapped herself with it, quietly basking in the ever so faint warmth it offered.

Yet Kili was not in the mood to reach a settlement he didn't like. "The cold has spread to my special place, so you have but two choices for the three to five minutes until we're dry enough to wear our clothes again," he announced. "Give it back to me, or share it. And since you wisely seem unwilling to do the first, come here."

Arya lost control of all the muscles in her face. Eyes went wide and her mouth acquired a will of its own, "What, fancy a cuddle with me all of a sudden?"

"Don't flatter yourself," he brushed off all too eagerly, pulling the blanket from her shoulders and throwing it over his own. "I just don't wanna lose certain body parts to frostbite. You agree to that, I imagine."

She grumbled something under her breath, although he felt angrier with himself than her. Still, taking it out on her was so much easier. It was alarming how much he'd enjoy being with her under the same blanket. And his body language was rather betraying at the moment.

Arya clearly debated with herself. One small, hesitant step... second small, hesitant step-

"Oh, for fuck's sake, I don't have chickenpox."

A sneer found its way up to her face and she almost pounced on him like a panther, deigning to have him drape his arms around her, along with the thin fabric.

She couldn't believe this was actually happening. He hadn't just trespassed her borders, he had demolished them. The fun fact here was that she was fine with letting him plunder everything on his way. And the voices in her mind might scream 'abort mission', but some things called hormones were having a damn party. What on earth was this, a randy case of PMS?

"God, you're freezing," Kili mumbled in awe once their skins came in touch.

"You think?" came the wry answer. "How come you give off heat like a bloody furnace?"

He did, didn't he? Well, it was none other's fault than his gut and hers. And if it felt like her body was quite cold, that's because it was –on average 2,8 degrees colder than his, possibly more now after swimming in the cold water. "Did you know that, because they have less muscle mass than men's, women's bodies are programmed to keep their cores warmer than their extremities to survive very low temperatures?"

"Yeah, that's part of the package deal you get when your body has a uterus to take care of," she said pointedly. "And you were whinging about a little fever. Shame on you."

"You're never gonna let that go, aren't you?" He felt her shaking her head in denial. "How're you feeling?"

"On a scale from one to ten," her voice came muffled against his chest as she fidgeted to find a place other than his rib cage to rest her hands on, "how smug would you get if I said quite well?"

An easy, breathless laugh that reverberated in her chest was his automatic response. "You don't wanna know."

They looked like an abnormally large burrito with colourful patches splattered here and there, all over the surface of the plaid blanket.

The weight of his body surrounded her. Almost every inch of hers was touching well toned Kili flesh. She felt exceedingly comfortable and quite uncomfortable at the same time; could hear the thump-thump of his heart under his chest, could feel his warm breath on her temple. With mind induced in a coma once more, she inhaled deeply, taking in his scent. He smelled of seawater, although she could still detect a hint of his cologne. It drove her wild. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that her toes curled and the rest of her feet turned into butter. "_Lovely,_" a voice mockingly congratulated in her head. "_You don't seem desperate at all._"

Later on she would plead temporary insanity, but right now she might as well call it lust. Her breathing changed as she stole a glance at his face. Much to her woe, he was very handsome; roguishly so, with his stubble, his scruffy hair and that crooked smile, whose energy could actually fuel the flux capacitor of the DeLorean. She gave a horribly uneven fight with the urge to run her fingers over his chest, and bit down at her lip to avoid biting his neck –yeah, she'd discovered that she had a pretty serious thing for his neck and the hair on his chest, and realised it wasn't gonna back down soon.

She wanted to do things to him. Good things and also other, bad ones –or more accurately, better. Her temperature began to rise all of a sudden, more because of her embarrassing thoughts rather than the heat he emitted.

Yet their small bubble of warmth violently popped into chilly thin air due to the vicious sound of a text message. Snapping out of her momentary lapse of reality, Arya pulled away in embarrassment, avoiding his eyes.

Kili felt two palms pushing him back and the body that touched his withdrew from him. He had never been more furious at a phone prior to that moment, but chose to act aloof so that she wouldn't suspect anything was wrong with him and his mind.

"I think I'm dry enough to wear clothes now," she mumbled under her breath and turned around, putting her dress on within seconds.

He, on the other hand, fumbled with the pockets of his trousers to find the damn phone. And who else could it be other than Fili, who was worried –about him, Arya and, last but not least, his car. Kili pinched the bridge of his nose. Oh, his brother was going to have a field day if he learned about this.

The clock showed 3:58. It was a two hour ride back to the city, it was also Monday and everyone had to go to work, so they had to leave just about now to be there on time. With a small sigh he dressed up as well and gestured her to return to the car, taking glimpses of the clouds in the background. "Come on," he said quietly, "it'll start raining soon."

Not exchanging any other words, they hurried back before the storm broke. The ride back home rolled in unnerving silence, Kili's full attention on the road and Arya staring out of the window, scooting away from him as much as possible.

He couldn't take in how his seemingly great opportunity was shattered into pieces. He could feel walls forming a fortress around her once more and doubted he'd get another chance to make them come down again soon. But that's alright. He was graced with an elementary amount of patience and was determined to wait.

* * *

Meanwhile in the house, Fili was sipping a cup of black coffee just to get his eyes to open. How he'd dragged himself all the way from the basement up to the kitchen could easily rival one of the Labours of Hercules. Damn, he was getting old. Despite the four hours of sleep he caught, he felt quite tired... although that could be ascribed to another activity that had taken place earlier. Then he laughed to himself -well, perhaps he wasn't that old yet.

He almost fell off the chair from the surprise when a flurry of a person that resembled his little brother stormed into the kitchen, oddly brash and refreshed for such an ungodly hour.

"Morning," Kili chirped.

Fili nodded groggily. With considerable effort, he managed to crack an eye open and then narrow it in suspicion. "You seem to be in an extraordinarily good mood."

Despite the suspicious tone, the brunet didn't show any signs of discomfort. "Do I?" he muttered indifferently as he poured himself some coffee.

A deep frown split the blond's face. "In fact, yes, you're giving me sugar intolerance just looking at you."

"Very funny."

"Mm-hmm," Fili murmured in sheer disbelief and crossed his arms over his chest, determined to get it out of him. "How about I ask Arya? Perhaps she knows something about your mood."

That would draw his attention had he not been completely opposed to showing any emotion beyond indifference. "How about no?" he casually suggested. "And what makes you think she knows something?"

"Doesn't she?" Fili challenged.

"What makes you think it has anything to do with her?"

The blond wasn't buying any of it. "Really, now? So you tell me she's missing for the past six hours and you have no idea where she is?"

"Your tendency to bring ultimate destruction is getting worse," Kili replied dryly. "She's in the car, waiting for us."

Fili gave a confident smile. "I'll take that as 'I was with her all night long'," he said matter-of-factly. "Might I ask where you two disappeared then?"

"Nowhere."

"I couldn't find any of you two around, so out with it! _What _happened?"

"Nothing," Kili shrugged.

The blond's eyes went wide. "Oh god," he exclaimed in dread, "did you sleep with her?"

"What-? No!" Kili protested. "Of course I didn't sleep with her!"

Instead of having the desirable calming effect the objection opted for, it made Fili's smile grow impossibly wide and he burst out laughing. "Damn you, kid, you have it _so_ bad for her, you know that?"

"No, I don't have it bad," Kili said angrily, though the resistant in his voice was weak at best. "Why does everyone keep fixating on that?"

"I'd _love_ to know who that 'everyone' consists of, but let's leave it for some other time," the blond commented with a pointed look. "I keep fixating on that, because you didn't sleep with her."

His brother wiggled his head in confusion. "You _do_ realise that you make no sense, right? Usually people tend to sleep with someone they-" He made a grimace of annoyance then, regretting that he was about to use those ridiculous words again, "With someone they actually have it bad for."

The blond's smiling face turned serious. "People, yes," he agreed. "You, no. You sleep with women you just like, because otherwise you'd make yourself emotionally vulnerable."

"That's bollocks!"

"Sure, and I'm the pope."

"Should I remind you that I was with someone for almost two years? We were ready to move in together-"

"Should I remind you the reason you two broke up was that you realised you weren't in love with her?"

Kili suppressed a growl at the back of his throat.

"Might I delve further into the case and say the actual reason was that you fell for someone else you met at the time, who also happens to occupy my spare room for the past year and a half?"

The brunet shot him a glare from the corner of his eye, though it didn't seem to have any effect. "Thank you for your input, Freud," he grumbled sarcastically.

With a smug grin, Fili attempted to resume his interrogation. "Am I now entitled to some details about last night?"

His brother's mouth remained sealed with wax.

"Hey," the older groaned, "I'm dying over here."

"Tough luck."

"Just give me something," Fili begged. "_Anything!_"

"Nope."

"Bitch," the blond harrumphed.

Kili let an evil laugh. "Jerk."

* * *

The two brothers had loaded all the bags in the car and already said goodbye to their mother, who had woken up shortly after the little discussion in the kitchen.

Getting no hours of sleep and feeling like crap for most of the night usually has the effect of zombifying someone and his actions the very next morning. Therefore Arya felt unable to go into the house and instead crawled to the back seat, sprawling herself across it and dozing off nearly at once. She hoped Fili would do the good deed of the day by bringing her bag to the car along with his, which he thankfully did.

The fact that she was still wearing the dress did not pass unnoticed by the ever shrewd blond.

"Seriously now, where were you two off to?"

Kili's lighthearted mood dissipated into seriousness. He had an inner debate of several moments with himself, but his mind had gone somewhat numb from the rhythmic sound of the raindrops falling on the windshield and he absentmindedly spilled the beans, "The beach dad took us to when we were little."

A rather ingenious smile spread across Fili's face. "You mean the beach he also used to take mum to, before they had us?" One eyebrow rose suggestively before he shook his head in praise, "Smooth move, kid. Smooth move."

"Piss off," the brunet muttered, angry with himself for the slip of his tongue and for being unable to protect his ears from his brother's silent chortles. "How about you?" he asked once Fili's laughter piped down, mostly out of dire need to change the topic rather than actual interest. "Anything interesting happened?"

The blond flashed a wicked grin and pointed at the glove compartment. "See for yourself."

Kili was slowly starting to regret the decision to ask, dreading any discovery. He fumbled with the things for a while, and turned to his brother with a quizzical look. "Am I failing to see the obvious here, or what?"

A whimper of frustration was the immediate response and Fili gestured towards the content more ardently. After a few torturing seconds, during which Kili's nerves turned jittery, he finally found the root of all the trouble. He lifted the small packet, noting that it was half-empty.

"I bought it yesterday," Fili remarked casually.

"Am I supposed to be proud of you now?" the brunet said unimpressively, let a snort and threw the packet of condoms back in the glove compartment. "And you claim that romance is completely lost to everyone but you."

"What?" Fili's whine of protest almost roused the woman at the back seat. "What's your problem?"

Kili shrugged in indifference before it hit him a few moments later. "During the party?" he burst quietly. "Where the hell did you two go? There were people just about everywhe-"

As it were, suspects tend to return to the crime scene, and so Fili made the grave mistake of glancing at the back seat for a very brief moment, which the younger didn't fail to catch.

His went wide, stomach and throat cooperating furiously to keep whatever food he'd had for breakfast down there. "Oh, for fuck's sake- Pull over."

"Wha-?" Fili asked in confusion. "Why?"

"Just pull over," the other said impatiently.

With a befuddled look, the blond did as asked. Once the car had stopped completely, Kili shooed him out, "Go sit in the back."

"What the hell?!"

"Yeah, I'm not letting her sleep where you shagged your fair maiden, unless of course you cleaned up afterwards," Kili said matter-of-factly, not waiting for a response, only because he was sure it'd be negative. "I assumed as much," he said knowingly, then got out of the car to open the back door. "You go back, she goes on the front seat, I'm driving."

"Oi, mate, that's _my_ car!"

Yet backing down was not included in Kili's plans. "Move your arse, Fil."

Arya was pulled away from the dreamland by a soft nudge on her shoulder and dared to blink a few times. Being half-unconscious had as a result to be unable to hold back a lazy smile upon seeing Kili right above her face. A contented sigh escaped her and he smiled down at her in response. Despite how pleased she felt, there was unfortunately something amiss. His head was upside down -not at all how he ought to look like had he been sleeping beside her. Suddenly all the pieces of the puzzle were put into place as she gained full conscience of her surroundings. The smile gave place to a horrified look and she jerked upright, almost bumping her forehead against his jaw.

"Hey, watch out!" he grumbled, avoiding the collision thanks to his good reflexes. He tugged at her arm then, drawing her closer to him and nudging her to the front.

She was still quite disoriented, her eyes barely open as she shot a confused glance at Fili, who was silently fuming in the rain as he took her place in the back seat. Getting roused from sleep was never her strong suit. Sometimes she handled it with relative calmness, others she may or may not have growled at the person who dared to wake her. Now, this oddly was neither of the former examples. She looked at Kili in absolute perplexity as he ushered her to sit, and he caught her head just in time before it'd bump against the window frame.

"Why all the fuss?"

Kili gave an apologetic look as he shut the door and hurried to the driver's seat.

"Why the hell did you wake me up?" she croaked again. "I was sleeping just fine." She drowsily glanced down at her watch, counting how many hours separated her from having to go to work, and her eyes snapped up to Kili. "You actually hate me, don't you?"

"Trust me, I had a very good reason," he replied casually as he started off the engine, ignoring the glowers he received from both of them.

"Which is?" she demanded furiously.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Basically, the back seat had a glorious night accommodating my brother's hairy arse."

His look said it all. It didn't take more than three seconds to catch on and she whimpered again, turning around to look at the culprit rather accusingly.

"Oh, spare me the judgmental looks!" Fili burst in his own defense. "What, is no one else allowed to have some fun just because you two don't shag?"

"Know that I can hurt you in creative and interesting ways if I so wish," his brother informed him, and then risked a glance at the woman beside him, noting the threatening look that was directed at the person in the back seat.

She had grumbled something unintelligible in reply to Fili's comment –a cross between 'fuck my life' and 'piss off'- though she avoided voicing it louder. Instead she chose to doze off again, trying to contain a fit of anger that would easily rival a five-year-old's.

Kili watched in mild amusement. When quiet swearing entered the menu, it only marked that she wouldn't take any crap. Disrupting the two necessary hours of sleep she'd get the whole day served as casus belli. Her look was downright murderous and, to think, she still looked rather calm in the vocal communication department.

Silently seated in the back, Fili watched with his ever observing eye how Arya had curled on the seat and swaddled herself with the coat his brother had left minutes ago when he was sitting there. Then he took a glimpse of the latter, who was stealing glances at her from the corner of his eye, trying to keep his attention on the road ahead rather than the woman beside him.

In fact, Kili succeeded most of the time, until a faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth and his hand reached out to cover her better with his coat. She didn't even budge when he moved it, so he reckoned she was already snoozing. It was the moment he was retrieving his hand that he caught sight of someone's reflection –namely his brother's absurdly smug face- on the mirror, and the earlier smile gave its place to a glower.

"Not a fucking word," he warned with a growl and fixed his eyes on the wet road, while Fili laughed breathlessly.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed that! Don't forget to review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello, dear readers! Once again, thank you for bearing with me and the many days between updates. Thanks for the follows, favs and reviews!**

**As promised, drama starts in this one. There's plenty of it in the chapters to come.**

* * *

It was easy to forget about her feelings once she went to work that Monday after that eventful weekend, almost three weeks ago. In fact, it was easy to forget about everything else besides work. Mainly because work pounced on her at full throttle and showed no intention of slowing down. Still, in a strange way, Arya felt grateful to busy herself with anything that was thrown in her way -perhaps a bit too ardently. She was glad to be burdened with all kinds of new tasks, even if she merely offered a helpful hand or opinion, just to keep her mind off of mulling over certain people. For overthinking could only get someone so far until they'd be sick of it.

Nothing had changed drastically these past weeks, except for the quarrels with Kili which, although previously constituting an important part of everyday life, now were down to about zero. Some of their colleagues took their fair share of time to get used to those new, strangely peaceful circumstances.

Yet the evil spirit that seemed to be responsible for all the quarrels wasn't vanquished. Quite the opposite, it became angered that its two usual manifestations were at relative peace with each other after years of conflict, so it decided to relocate and search for new preys. This comfortable situation of those two, however, should _not_ breed complacency.

The two innocent souls that were entrapped had been holding fast to their lives so far, until... one summer day, the sly spirit made them stumble upon each other. Quite literally, that is. And what an awful coincidence it was that both of them were having a shitty day. It didn't need something else for a rather heated argument to break out, thankfully with no witnesses to pry and gossip later.

Three days after that unfortunate event took place, a third person would have the luck to meet one of the two aforementioned souls –was acquainted with the other already.

_Arya was too focused on the folders in her hands as she entered the room to notice her surroundings, until a voice pulled her out of her thoughts._

_"Excuse me?"_

_That wasn't Yvonne, Fili's personal assistant. Her desk was empty. Arya looked around and saw another woman sitting in one of the chairs, a small box on her lap. "Yes?"_

_"Do you know when Mr.-" Her forehead creased in doubt. She didn't remember his name. "The blond chap, anyway," she said in the end. "They told me this is his office. Do you know if he's gonna be late?"_

_"Um... no?" Arya was at a loss. "Sorry, I'm not his PA and she's apparently gone as well... but can I help you with something?"_

_The woman exhaled a bit loudly, though it seemed to be a breath of relief. "I knocked, no one answered and thought to wait, but I have to be somewhere really soon so," she stood up and walked closer, "if I leave this here, will he get it?"_

_"Of course," Arya nodded. "Wanna leave a note so he knows that you brought it?"_

_The woman reluctantly nodded in agreement, took the pad and pen she was offered, wrote something brief and folded the piece of paper in four. "Thanks a million," she said after placing the note on the box._

_Before Arya could utter even a word the woman was off and she was left behind looking at her retreating form. Well, that was odd, she thought and wondered in what kind of trouble Fili was again. Without lingering further she opened the door to his office, placed the folders along with the unknown woman's box on the desk and left, hoping that it wasn't a carefully packed explosive device. She actually texted him about it to warn him, just in case. There were one or two hurt women crazy enough to do thi_s.

_Later in the day when he came home, Arya was a tad curious to know what this was all about. Fili was rather deliberate to elaborate, but in the end decided to give her the short version of it._

_As it turned out, he'd had an unfortunate argument with that woman a week ago when she was delivering something to another floor. His exact words were, "Well, it was already a bad day. We literally bumped into each other, I poured hot coffee all over her, she threw a few rather creative curses at me, and it kinda went downhill from there on. Just like you and Kili."_

_Arya scoffed. "Do you recall me or him ever apologising by bringing cupcakes to each other?" Before he could respond she went on, "Yeah, very much _not_ like me and Kili."_

_"Anyway, up for a movie?"_

_"What?" Arya whined and took a bite of the one she'd been eyeing for the past few minutes, with the honey-cinnamon frosting. "You're not gonna thank her or some-?" The sentence was cut in half by a moan that would probably have Kili melt into pulp on the floor had he been there. "Sweet mother of god, I'm eating heaven."_

_"Oh, please," Fili brushed off, though before he could continue she had already shoved one in his mouth._

_"Still not good enough for ya?"_

_"It's a cupcake," he mumbled within the mouthful of cream, "it is fine."_

_She gave him her best evil laugh. "Then you won't mind if I show the rest of them a good time."_

_"Oi, these are for me, not you," Fili objected and pulled the box out of her reach. "And if you wanna show someone a good time, my brother lives five blocks away." He knew he was pouring gasoline over a bonfire and was enjoying it beyond measure. "I'm sure he will be chuffed to oblige."_

_Arya simply flipped him the bird. "You'll either thank her for these, or prepare to have your arse kicked and thank her later."_

It was hardly a surprise that Fili eventually agreed to find the woman. He knew nothing but her name and the patisserie she bought the cupcakes from, and it was then where Arya's detective skills came in handy. The clues were not that hard to find, after all. First time Fili saw her she was delivering something to another floor. It took two or three questions to people who worked there to find out that she had delivered a present to someone -a box of chocolates, in specific. The name of the patisserie came to light and after a supposedly random visit there, Arya returned home with two boxes of chocolates, the information that the unknown woman actually worked there.

_"How did-? You're-" Fili had muttered in surprise. "I'm actually scared of you from time to time, you know that?"_

_She had replied with a grin. "If there's will, there's also a way."_

_"Please,_ do_ explain, why are we still making a fuss about this?"_

_"Come on, she entered all this trouble to apologise," Arya had reasoned. "You should at least thank her."_

Two days later, Fili had decided to drop by that patisserie, naturally per his dear flatmate's little boost; as if he didn't have anything better to do on a bloody Wednesday afternoon. Long story short, he did find the woman and thanked her for the edible apology.

* * *

Wednesday had come and gone, Friday had arrived and Fili hadn't been pestered anymore about that matter. Just the fact that he had thanked that woman was more than enough for Arya to continue minding her own business. He didn't know why it seemingly had been so important to her, mainly because she wasn't the kind of person to pry into other people's affairs. Perhaps she had liked those cupcakes very much –which would actually pose as a very good reason considering it was her.

The blond laughed to himself as he buttoned his shirt, standing right beside the wardrobe and the open door of his room.

Just then Arya flounced from the bathroom to her room across the hall, casually taking a glimpse of him from the corner of her eye. She did a double take. The abrupt loss of momentum almost had her French-kiss the wall, but she thankfully managed to prevent the collision. There might also be a sly whistle thrown somewhere in there.

"And how would you prefer your martini, Mr. Bond?"

That drew Fili's attention, who rolled his eyes and half-seriously glared at her. "My god, you and Kili are made for each other," he said with a dramatic shake of his head, keeping his voice low enough on purpose so as not to receive the dish rack on his head.

"Oh, don't give me the glare," she brushed off, then raised an eyebrow and strutted to his room, taking a closer look. "Why, don't you look dashing!"

"I'm not an exhibit, Arya," he sighed. "Stop staring."

"So, who's the lucky gal?" she smirked. "Want me to give you some space lat-?"

"That would be unnecessary, thank you. It's just dinner."

Another double take was definitely in order. She wiggled her head to check if her ears were ringing. "Sorry, what?"

The blond cracked a smug smile, came closer and placed his hands on her shoulders. "You heard perfectly well, dearie. I'm heading out for dinner."

"Yeah," she agreed, "that's exactly what made an impression."

Fili tried to look insulted, but failed triumphantly. "I'm a deeply misunderstood person, you know that?"

"So you tell me you have a date," she asked in confusion, "and you'll simply go for dinner, nothing more?" He nodded and her eyes widened slightly. "Wow. Okay, well, that's... new."

He flashed another smile. "How about you?"

"Oh," she mocked, "it's Friday night, the big night, date night, Friday night, Fri-day night!"

A throaty chuckle was his response before he guessed, "So no plans, huh?"

"Not a one," she laughed, and disturbingly happily at that.

"I don't think Kili's got anything to do either," he was playing oh so close to the fire, "why don't you tell him to drop by?"

Had circumstances been different, or had he said that a few months prior, he would've probably been brained by the dish rack just about now. But she was barely seething -that was a sign of tremendous, breathtaking progress. "Keep your suggestions to yourself, Mr. Bond," was all she deigned to say. "Where did you meet her anyway?"

It had to be noted as one of the exceedingly rare times in his life that Fili might have seemed somewhat bashful and unwilling to reveal anything. "Some place or another."

Arya crossed her arms over her chest, arching an eyebrow in suspicion, "That's quite vague. You usually brag about this stuff."

The man scoffed. "You know, I'd love to say something in protest, but you are always right, damn you. There's a small chance you've met her as well."

"Wha-?" Creases of perplexity appeared on her forehead, and Arya narrowed her eyes. "You didn't... Is the one I think it is?"

Slightly dreading how she'd react, Fili nodded reluctantly.

She graced him with all the seriousness her face and voice could muster. "I shall be expecting the return of a favour in the future." With that she was off to her room, not skipping to add, "As well as an endless supply of cupcakes."

* * *

A whole hour had passed and Arya sat in front of her laptop, struggling to concentrate on the work she had to do. Yet the seed was planted, and quite deep for that matter. Although not exactly as Fili suggested. In her version, she'd be the one to go and find Kili, not the other way around.

She tried to act out the scene in her mind - she'd ring the bell, he'd open the door, very surprised but also glad to see her. He'd said that he wanted to know her better after all-

Oh, who was she kidding? He had her number, he could've called her anytime, couldn't he?

The scene shifted into another, more realistic - she'd ring the bell, he'd open the door, he'd be very surprised but coerce himself to act totally indifferent.

The wheels in her mind began to spin.

She would disturb him, interrupt something, and he'd be on the warpath. She'd scuttle then and he would be relieved beyond measure.

Her head slumped forward in the warm, temporary shelter of her hands. It was late June and she still felt abnormally cold at times.

His face suddenly flashed before her eyes... and that was it. The decision was taken long ago and she had just been procrastinating. She wanted to see him, talk to him, hear his voice. Just to certify that he at least was alright - nothing more.

* * *

Kili was fiddling with the cupboards, trying to rather literally cook up dinner plans with whatever ingredients he could spare. His leisure bustle was put on hold when the doorbell rang, making him wonder if he'd had any plans for tonight and forgotten them.

"Who is it?"

There was a two seconds' silence before a slightly hesitant voice said, "It's me."

His pace reflexively faltered upon recognising the unmistakeable voice, and he almost stumbled on thin air. He opened the door and was met with one of the greatest surprises of the past month –make that the whole year, actually.

"Hi."

"Hey," he smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"Well... um," Arya shuffled a bit on her feet. "I went for a walk and, since I was in the neighbourhood, I thought to drop by and say hi."

"Oh. Well, that's... erm, very nice of you," his voice faded as crinkles of doubt appeared on his forehead.

Much to his embarrassment, he was positive he'd lost all control over his facial expressions. She had found him completely unprepared; he was ready for a Friday night of comfort sprawled on the sofa while watching a movie.

Arya considered him for a few seconds, seeing his hesitation to say anything else, and doubt devoured her insides -even more so than when she decided to knock on the door after ten minutes of inner debate. Buggery bollocks, she shouldn't have come. Perhaps he was busy and she was bothering him, perhaps he was expecting company, perhaps he already had company inside and she was ruining it- The possibilities were endless and they were eating at her very soul. She was violating his personal space, for fuck's sake -that counted as a crime, at least for her, who always was respectful towards people's boundaries, considering the little problem she had with her own.

"Okay, I said hi," the words came out slurred as her eyes strayed to the floor, "have a nice evening."

That jerked Kili out of his daze and he inwardly cursed himself for his incompetence to speak. "Wha- No!" he went to protest. "I mean, I'm just not used to having you visit me- Don't you wanna come in?"

Her eyes snapped up to his as he held the door completely wide open and waited for her with a smile. "Really?" she asked in disbelief. "I don't want to impose or some-"

"Of course you don't impose!" he blurted out, practically pulling her inside from the sleeve. His eyelids fluttered close for a second when she trailed off the scent of her perfume, and he barely contained himself from launching forward and sniffing at her neck –among other activities involving her neck and his mouth. "I wasn't doing anything, just making something to eat- Are you hungry?"

"Not much," she said reservedly, "but I suppose I could grab a bite. What do you have in mind?"

Well, that's a good question. Food had moved to the bottom of the long list of things he had in mind the moment he opened the door to see her, and only now it hit him.

"Nothing too fancy - spaghetti sounds good?"

Arya shrugged. "Sure, yeah."

He nodded as they headed to the kitchen, his eyes not leaving her figure even when he had his back partly turned to her. "You're lucky that you arrived before I started," he joked as she took a seat. "I usually cook naked."

"Didn't see the line for the tickets anywhere," she said with a wry smile.

She crossed her hands on the table and watched him almost reverently bustling about the kitchen as he started to cook. The smile quickly turned into a frown when the thought that had been nagging her mind all these days struck back.

"Hey... um, I've been meaning to talk to you for quite some time now," she began hesitantly, "about that night on the beach."

If that caught him off-guard, he was quick not to show it. He simply resumed fiddling with pots and plates, casually mumbling, "Yeah?"

"I wanted to thank you."

His body relaxed again, yet he kept his back turned to her. "Don't even mention it."

"Yes, I _will_ mention it," she protested. "Thank you."

This time he stopped whatever he was doing and turned around. "Will you tell me why you were like this? What made you cry and all?"

Arya still felt too uncomfortable to go into detail. There was the possibility that everything was going to be okay with her aunt in the end, so there was no point in discussing or dwelling on something that was over. Yet there was also the possibility that he would pity her. Curse her damn pride, but she hated being pitied. It implied that she was vulnerable.

She shook her head in apology. "Perhaps some other time."

Kili gave nothing away. He simply stared intensely at her for a few more seconds before turning around again.

Regret pinched her gut when he did so and she almost facepalmed. It was admirable how he hadn't actually kicked her out yet. In fact, she wouldn't hold it against him if he did. Was there really any way to redeem herself for that?

"I'd do the same."

He glanced at her over his shoulder, confusion evident on his features, "Huh?"

The words were out in the world and there was no chance time would go back. So she continued as calmly and convincingly as her fretful stomach allowed. "If you were in my place," she explained, "I'd do the same. I'd try to make you feel better."

Kili fought a great battle with himself so that the corners of his mouth wouldn't curl upwards. "That's good to know," was the sole reply he limited to give, though it sounded earnest.

He could feel eyes raking over his form as he waited for the water to boil, but resisted himself the satisfaction of catching her out. After a few minutes he couldn't feel them on him anymore. Sneaking a glance at her from the corner of his eye, he saw her sitting there in silence, quietly munching on a piece of cheese, a bit lost in her thoughts. A smirk crept up to his face and he stealthily moved closer.

"Apple?"

The voice made her flinch in surprise, followed suit by a hand in front of her. As soon as she saw what he held, Arya snorted. "Eve beguiled Adam by giving him to take a bite of the apple of temptation, or so some people claim."

"Well, in that case," he said pointedly, "look how the tables turn."

"Oh, do you wish to beguile and then seduce me?"

Kili chuckled softly. "Nah, I've already done that."

Much to her dismay, a voice in her head admitted that may or may not be true. Promptly, her brain did a marvellous job shutting it down immediately. "Have you, now?" she challenged. "How so?"

"Well, food's ready, so our only remaining concern is choosing a movie."

To his surprise, Arya seemed partly unimpressed; also a little confused. "Um... cool, I guess?"

He looked at her as if she'd grown an extra pair of hands. "Really? No eye-roll, smack on the back of my head... Nothing?"

Now she seemed exclusively confused. "Why would I do any of that?"

"You know, 'cause of the good old 'Let's watch a movie at my place'?"

"Yeah...?"

"Which basically is the universal not-so-secret code for getting it on while the movie plays on the background?"

Just lile that, she went from confused to unimpressed to facepalming in a blink of an eye.

And Kili started laughing. "You've honestly never heard of that?"

"No, I'd simply blocked certain memories which you just dug up. My first flatmate had locked me out of the house because of that."

"Oh?"

"She texts me to _please, please stay out for a while_ because that guy just got there-"

Kili pursed his lips.

"...I get a second text that says I'm free to come home as soon as the movie ends-"

He really struggled.

"It starts pouring down outside, and that's not even the best part-"

At this point, he could barely hold back.

"The movie they put on was -wait for it- the bloody Godfather!"

And he finally cracked.

"And there I am, waiting in the rain for 3 hours, with no umbrella and a dead battery."

A minute or two later, when the laughter piped down under her fake glower, he said, "No, but seriously, we have to choose a movie. I can't eat without watching something. How about Death Proof?"

"Please, you just wanna see the lap dance!"

"No, I don't!"

"Yeah, right! Can we please watch something else? Crime drama or something?

"Why," he commented dryly, "aren't you a ball of sunshine."

"Dude, I'll give you a lap dance if you wanna see a lap dance, but let's just watch something el-"

Time might actually freeze.

Arya's eyes widened. A chill washed over her entire body while her once existing voice silently prayed that she hadn't actually said that. Which resulted in nothing, because, in fact, she _had_.

Kili, on the other hand, simply cocked an eyebrow. "I'll hold you to that."

* * *

Yet plans don't always materialise in the anticipated way, and perhaps that's how the evening would evolve in a parallel universe, an ideal world, or perhaps a low-budget romantic comedy. In the concept known as real life, however, she didn't even make it to his door –barely his building. No one answered when she pressed the button beside his name on the entryphone. He wasn't there. Why should he? It was Friday night, he'd be out with friends -hopefully only with them.

After a while she laughed to herself. Pondering so intensely on something and putting much thought into it usually led to plan failure. But only because her stubbornness was roused for good that night, she deigned to sit on the steps at the entrance and wait for ten minutes or so, in case he showed up.

Ten minutes turned into half hour, during which Kili had yet to appear. Upon their pass, Arya decided her pride and dignity had suffered a degrading defeat and succumbed to their wounds, dying a quick death, and she reckoned it was time to get going. Just when she rose from the quite uncomfortable seat, her back stiff from sitting so long on the marbled steps, the suspect rounded the corner. Before her opinion regarding her rotten luck had time to seek atonement she noticed he wasn't alone -someone was walking along with him; someone who she seriously hoped was a man with long hair.

Nope.

Her luck's atonement was promptly flushed down the toilet as soon as that person proved to be a woman; one with her arm clutching his, and only when they stopped in front of a car and she shoved herself inside did he manage to snatch his arm free. They talked for one or two minutes -perhaps something more than just a little chat actually, although Arya refused to spare them a second glance- before the blonde drove away.

He idly tossed the key up in the air as his feet carried him closer and closer to the entrance, but the playful movement stopped as soon as he came face to face with her. _Shite_. For a very odd reason, just by the way she stared at him with that cold, unnervingly placid look, it made him slightly regret the damn day and time he'd decided to go on that date. Yet suddenly his mind rebelled against his heart. Who was she to make him regret? They lived in a free country, he had every right to do as he pleased.

"Hey," he greeted casually.

His carefree attitude only succeeded in enhancing her inner flutter. She was sorely disappointed with herself. She had let her guard down and allowed someone to make her feel this disappointment. That was her first mistake.

"Hey," she nodded.

"Do I have to ask or are you gonna tell me yourself?"

"Huh?"

"What are you doing here," he explained.

She was silent for a few seconds and then quickly replied, "Just wanted to ask you something about work."

"For heaven's sake, woman, take a break," he sighed. "It's Friday night."

Arya didn't struggle much to pull off a wry smile. "Of course," she scoffed, "how could I even imagine that you wouldn't be otherwise occupied? I suppose this one made an impression on you then."

Have we ever mentioned how much he despised and at the same time liked when she was being exceptionally sarcastic? Well, he did. It was a defence mechanism of his character to reply in the same way, with little care of whether or not he'd hurt the other. "Not exactly," he shrugged, "but people have needs."

The decision she'd made years ago rang in her head like a gong; she shouldn't have diverted from it. Everyone in this world had an ulterior motive, herself included of course. Perhaps hers was to find her peace of mind, although that didn't count as a motive in and of itself, rather the means she'd use to find it. She didn't know what his motive was, why he'd entered all that trouble weeks ago to make her feel better, or the whole fuss he'd made when they confronted each other about her avoiding him. It didn't make any sense.

What, did he want them to be best mates or something? God, she hoped not. She'd had enough of this shit in the past and wasn't interested in a repetition. At least when she and Kili were at odds, she could deal with the emotions that seeing him with other women evoked in her. But living through this again, on top of being friends? Ha-ha, no.

He was ready to open the door when he spoke again, seeing that she hadn't responded. Which was rather odd, considering that she seldom wasted an opportunity to cross him. "You could have just called me, you know."

So simply like that, the defences he'd managed to break down rose once again, this time electrified, jagged, barb-wired, with poison ivy growing around them. She could feel them growing, fortifying the wall that shielded her heart. "Yes," she agreed after a few seconds, "I could've called you."

Kili was beyond confused. He didn't know what to make of her slightly bizarre behaviour, but she really didn't seem well to him. His forehead crinkled with worry. Only the thought of her not being fine, coupled with the fact that she'd unfortunately seen him with another woman –which, despite his earlier claim of righteousness, was now added to his list of epic blunders- had him ill-at-ease. His aloofness was only a mask used as a shield against hurt -he'd had enough of that so far, thank you very much- and he had grown unwilling to shed it. But one look from her, one tiny seed of doubt planted in his head and hinting that something troubled her, and there he was, breaking as easily as an axe chopped wood.

He reached out a hand to touch her arm, the casual look long gone from his eyes. They were a soft hue of brown, emitting warmth and concern. "Are y-?"

With a deft twirl Arya avoided the contact and looked at him dead in the eye. Hers were darker than usual, something dark and gloomy clouding the once clear gaze. "Goodnight."

With that curt greeting she was off to the opposite direction, not even sparing him a second glance. He had the irresistible urge to run after her and check what's wrong, but thought it better to give her time till she wanted to tell him herself. She wasn't one to tolerate pressure well, he had learned his lesson. This is why he hadn't disturbed her all these weeks since that night on the beach, after all.

Little did he know that time was up and she didn't need any more.

* * *

Fili opened the door around midnight. Well... perhaps half hour after midnight. What made him jump a foot the moment he turned on the lights was the figure of someone sitting on the sofa and watching Amélie. "Hey," he greeted.

Instead of the usual arched eyebrow and self-satisfied smile she'd give him just about now, followed by exceedingly lewd -perhaps he was rubbing off on her- comments about his night, she sat there alarmingly unperturbed. Her usual vigour was gone. "How was dinner?" she asked quietly, taking the last swig from the glass she was holding.

The blond studied her for a moment, trying to assess the situation. "Quite good actually," he chirped. "We went for a drink afterwards."

She rose from the sofa, gave him a what he imagined to be congratulatory tap on his shoulder and placed the glass in the sink.

He sneaked behind her and grabbed said item, bringing it before his face for a closer scrutiny, and sniffed. Tequila. _Oh, boy_. "What happened?"

Arya shrugged, "Nothing."

"Dude." Yes, he called her like that more often that she'd like. "You're all teary-eyed."

"Well, it's a very moving film-"

"You didn't even tear up during The Green Mile or, that's a turn-up for the books, bloody Lion King!"

"What was I supposed to do, bawl my eyes out like you?"

"I didn't bawl my eyes out." Yes, he did. "And you don't cry at movies. Actually, now that I think about it, I've never seen you-"

"Oh, I'm sorry that something managed to make me feel all warm in my hollow tin chest!" she snapped with wry voice.

"Arya, what happened?"

"I told you, nothing."

"You reek of alcohol."

"Can't I have a drink before I go to sleep, mum?"

Fili grabbed her arm and pulled her back before she could slip away. "You don't drink tequila unless you feel like shit," he snapped. "And don't try to convince me otherwise, I know you do that. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong!"

"Oh for the love of God, don't start with 'no one' and 'nothing'," he cried in frustration. "When women say that, there's always something's wrong. So _what_ is it?"

"Fil, I told you, it's nothing," she laughed and a crazed twinkle shone bright in her eyes. He couldn't tell whether it was from the drink or not. "Everything's fine. Just the way it used to be."

"Doesn't seem so."

"Trust me, it is," she insisted. Perhaps she might break right then and there had not her mind been strong enough to keep her temper at bay. "And let me tell you, I don't give a fuck if this sounds terrible but, since I still have enough pride left, I'm done caring."

Fili remained silent. Arya supposed he was raking his brain to find proper words to answer her. She doubted there were any.

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**Hope you enjoyed it and that the weird timeline didn't confuse you. If it did, drop me a question and I'll be happy to explain. Don't forget to review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Heeey, guys, look who's back! Hope you're doing great and didn't forget me, because I'm still here and alive. Wow, the trailer of the Battle of the Five Armies is out, Benedict Cumberbatch got engaged... I've been missing for a month and it's the end of the world as we know it! I know, I'm unforgivable, but this month _really_ sucked. Also my muses decided to go on holiday but, bless them, they're back!**

**Thank you for the follows, favs and reviews! This one's quite fluffy, because it mostly consists of a big brotherly scene and also because there be drama in the next one.**

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Theory #10: Life is like a highroad, with cars that come and go, speed up, slow down, and so on and so forth. Sometimes you get inside and they take you on great adventures and travels far, far away. And some other times they run you over and turn you into jelly.

There was an old notepad shoved somewhere in the dusty corners of her desk drawer, full of theories like this that she'd been writing down. Her older brother had actually tormented her the day he discovered its existence -she didn't remember him having laughed harder in his life.

In brief, Theory #10 constituted the summary of the past few months, with the sole difference that Arya felt like she had been run over by a lorry, not a car. June had quickly melted into October –she didn't even remember how July, August and September slipped by- and the first real chill made a punchy appearance in the autumn scenery, accompanied by rain. In the course of these months she made the momentous observation that sleep, music, and work were the holy trinity of success for one wishing to forget. It was admirable she hadn't got bored of 'What goes around, comes around' judging by the zillion times she'd heard it, if only to draw disturbing parallels between the lyrics and her life.

The sole rays of sunshine in that bleak period were her aunt, whose health problem was thankfully overcome after the surgery she'd had, and her little cousin, who was her personal bundle of joy all year round. Fili as well, who was making subtle attempts to cheer her up every now and then, and oddly enough, another woman. Lizzie Harper was the name, and she was Fili's new... girlfriend? Arya didn't know for sure and was discreet enough not to ask. From what Fili had told her, they were together but weren't sure of their relationship's boundaries yet –still, they often went to sleep with a yawning chasm between them, and they woke up in the morning with arms and legs tangled together, some body part of Fili's falling off the bed and Lizzie's hair in his face. Long story short, they were kind of an item for almost four months now.

If there was a word to describe Lizzie, it'd be 'winsome'. She naturally had her bad days as every person did, though it would never be without reason. She, along with the divine cupcakes and all kinds of sweets she often made was the reason Arya had gained almost eight pounds.

On the other hand, it might have been the slightly increased alcohol consumption that was at fault for those eight pounds.

A woman who had recently taken comfort in drink. From what did she seek solace? What did she not wish to see?

What... or whom?

Recalling that warm, slightly humid night of mid June that she had walked to _his_ house only to not find him there and see him half hour later with that blonde evoked strange sentiments to her that saw to hibernate those already existing. She barely remembered what happened after she left, or if she and Fili talked at all when he got home. If they did, he had the good grace not to mention it the next day or any day since. Next morning she'd sent a little probe down into her brain. No surge of migraine or signs of hangover came up to greet her. All that she'd dreamed of had actually happened.

Since then, her relationship with Kili downgraded from a potential for friendship to strictly professional. She tried to focus most of her attention on the matters of brain and not those of heart. But not even her brain evaded the blow intact. There was a small piece of it, subconscious people called it, that functioned of its own accord and was an accessory in the crime. And one had to be a robot, or any other entity lacking human feelings in order to be completely unaffected by their subconscious, for it was a circuitry that couldn't be overridden. Still, no talks other than business they would have, and no extra looks would be exchanged.

In short, she was back. And if Arya was back, it meant that her armour was also back, refortified. She had clammed up like an oyster and it was as if certain events had been erased not only from her mind, but from time itself. It was her standard defense mechanism and it helped her, so why shouldn't she welcome it?

* * *

Kili had studied at Cambridge and the Royal College of Art. He had travelled quite a lot, met so many people from all over the world, and read hundreds of books –more than a thousand perhaps, although he didn't want to be perceived as a braggart twit, therefore he kept the number to the modest 'hundreds'.

Yet no amount of travels, public relations and reading could have prepared him for meeting _her_. This was unlike anything he'd ever expected. He'd learned that she could be one of the liveliest people he'd met even if at the exact same time she felt like crap on the inside. He'd learned that she despised being told what to do, most certainly by –per her exact words, spoken in the most sarcastic voice he'd heard- 'His Royal Highness and the wuthering heights his ego resided!' He'd learned that she often resorted to satirizing what hurt her and felt better upon making a fool of it in her mind.

There were more, and their sum was a considerable load of information to cope with in the course of two years. The riddle he was assigned to figure out this time had him at a loss. They barely even talked, and now it'd been more than the two weeks the last time this happened. She seemed to ignore him completely, no matter how sarcastic or biting his comments became. He did not, however, dare to admit it, even to himself, that this woman's almost continuous absence from his everyday life actually troubled him.

Unsettling wasn't even close to his level of emotional turmoil. It was infuriating, and what angered him even more was the fact that he actually cared in the first place. He had spent almost two years complaining and grumbling about her, and now when she wasn't near to annoy him anymore, he was close to climbing walls in his frustration.

The past months had been all kinds of strange and there were one or two times Kili had actually slapped himself in the morning, because it felt like he was living in an oddly warped version of the universe, where reality sometimes seemed so awfully different that made him wanna pour bleach all over his brain to forget everything and reset it to default mode. It wasn't that he didn't fancy changes, just that such an abrupt turn was a bit too much for anyone to deal with.

Simply to keep his sanity intact, he had recurred to work. When there was order at least in one part of his life and not everything was chaotic, there was a small chance -a beacon of light- he wouldn't lose his mind in the end.

Nose shoved into the screen; this is how Fili found him almost every time he stayed late at work. Today was no exception either.

"Wanna grab a bite later?"

"Nah, I'm not hungry."

"I said later, not now. Later you _will_ be hungry," the blond replied dryly. "Kili, you haven't been out for almost a week."

"Yeah, not in the mood and I've got work to do."

"On a Friday night? Bullshit," Fili protested. "Seriously, what you do is not healthy-"

His brother lifted an eyebrow. "Says the man who had an anxiety attack last year."

"Which we're still keeping under our hats," Fili added with a pointed look. "It was a one-time thing and I still looked better than you do now."

Kili wasn't even remotely convinced. He'd much rather go home, have a beer or two, and fall asleep on the couch watching some random shit on the telly. Live the dream.

"Liz warned she was going to lure you to go out with chocolate truffles."

"Inform her that I've never given in to temptations of this kind."

Kili had met the aforementioned woman. Quite fortunate that his brother was busy with her, or else Fili would've made him tag along every goddamn time he went out of the house, even to just go to the supermarket. She seemed quite nice, although there was someone who didn't exactly approve. But that's a story for another time.

On another note, now that he put some thought into it, why couldn't he find someone like her? Someone good for him, someone... normal? Then again, he had been with someone who met those criteria, but it didn't work out in the end. So perhaps his match was someone out of the ordinary, or at least someone who was out of the ordinary to his eyes.

"Come on, man," the older whined. "I'll tell-"

Something jerked Kili out of his pensive mode, and his mind probably prompted reality and thoughts to mingle. For there was a name nagging his mind as an answer to his mental quandary, which he, for some inexplicable reason, thought to be the next word to pop out of his brother's mouth. "Don't you even think about it," he warned.

The blond scoffed. "And of course you mean my lovely flatmate, who's not the one I was talking about."

Kili harrumphed. Stupidly enough, he had betrayed himself and his thoughts, but he wasn't ready to accept defeat just yet. So he remained silent, his eyes slowly straying from his brother's figure toward the glass partition that offered ample view of the riverside.

Fili was enjoying himself much more than he let on. There was an instinct older siblings were blessed with since the beginning of time that often helped them figure out their younger siblings' troubles. Fili was no exception to that rule. He suspected that something must have happened, since he'd heard neither his brother nor his flatmate grumbling about each other the past four months -which was some kind of an Olympic record for those two. Ergo, yes, he knew something's rotten in the state of Denmark, but had yet to pinpoint its nature.

Still, as siblings' habits went by, it was ever so slightly amusing to watch your little brother torturing himself with the thought of a woman.

"Since you're dying to know but there's no way you'll ask," Fili offered, "she's listening to sad music, eats disturbing amounts of chocolate, barely talks about anything beside work- If I had to venture a guess, it'd be that she's heartbroken but, well... it's Arya. She does all that anyway."

"Mm-hmm," Kili mumbled indifferently as he wrote down something on the notepad in front of him, "she's a pain in the arse."

And simply like that, Fili certified where the root of all trouble lay. "Okay," he shook his head and determinedly planted himself on one of the chairs, "walk me through it, bro, walk me through it."

The brooding brunet retrieved his gaze from the screen and the notepad for a few seconds, weighing his brother's look. His gut told him that he wasn't gonna get away from this unless he spilled the beans. "What do you want me to say- She's out of her fucking mind," he blurted out in the end, his pent up frustration having found a crack to vent itself. "You can't even have an argument with her anymore, let alone a conversation-"

"Hold up there," Fili raised a hand. "I'm confused."

"Well, same here!"

Fili's brow furrowed. "You mean to tell me you don't even talk to each other? _Again_?"

"Barely a word," said the other with a loud sigh.

The blond whimpered. "This is getting rather mundane, don't you think?"

"Seriously, I can't figure out what's wrong with her," Kili complained. "I've never been so frustrated with someone in my entire life, she's fucking infuriating- I think I'm popping arteries inside my head every day for the past four months!"

He lifted his left hand up to his head, index and middle finger rubbing his temple like another Charles Xavier, in an attempt to get rid of the annoying ache before it turned into a fully-fledged migraine. He had just given an overview of his interaction –or rather lack of it- with Arya all this time, and the conversation grated on his nerves. He was expecting Fili to laugh or tease him again any moment now, yet the blond didn't seem inclined to do either. That did not bode well for Kili; he scowled and stood up, glanced outside at the countless brick roofs and glass skyscrapers that were painted orange red through the clouds as the sun dived behind the horizon, his brow furrowed in thought. An image flashed before his eyes then; an image of her glaring at him, face cold and furious, and eyes bright and beautiful.

Fili watched him with amusement. "Promise you won't try to kill me for what I'm about to say."

Without turning fully to face him, his brother shot him a suspicious look from the corner of his eye.

"You _do_ realise that you actually admit to be missing your tiffs with her, right?"

If the steam that might as well start to become visible was any indication, Kili was definitely fuming on the inside. "She's just pissing me off when she does that," he growled under his breath, "when she ignores me and doesn't even talk to me for something other than work."

"No, she just makes you question the order you've set to your mind and feelings," the blond corrected, "and _that_ pisses you off."

"That is absolutely ridiculous-"

"Is it?" Fili countered. "Why don't you do us all a favour and admit it, at least to yourself? In fact, it's really easy to admit-"

"Can you please shut up?" Kili grumbled. "Because I have a migraine the size of Jupiter, and I don't want it to expand to the size of the solar system by discussing about her."

His brother was decided not to lay off him this time. "Kili, she's not as irrational as you make her sound like. You must have done something, willingly or not, to make her behave like that."

"I didn't do anyth-!" the other protested, but was soon cut off by a hand gesturing him to quiet down.

"I have no idea what happened and I'm not asking you to tell me. Just hear me out for once," Fili said calmly. "This is not some art project or whatever that you can figure out by skipping two nights of sleep. She's an actual person, with actual feelings. Perhaps it will take you some time."

"I can't spend any more time!" Kili snapped. The volume of his voice was rather meagre compared to the thud his fist made when it collided with the thin strand of steel that parted the huge glass partition in half. Bull's eye, actually, for the results in case he punched the glass were not that promising –although it was supposed to be unbreakable.

Fili remained as calm as ever, a complacent smile on his face. "When you're finished trying to demolish the building, I'm still all ears."

The brunet almost groaned in frustration. It had no good influence on his anger either, seeing as he was starting to flare up. "It hurts me!" he blurted out harshly. "It physically hurts my nerves when anyone but _me_ can have a conversation with her, know how her day was, if she got any sleep at night, what she had for lunch, or every other little thing she did all day!"

"Oh my," was all Fili managed to utter in mild surprise. "Is it like... platonic, or something?"

"Of course it's not platonic!" Kili bellowed. "I've pinned her against a wall like a hundred times, I dream about her at night and I wake up in the morning all sweaty and-" His teeth clenched to save his last pieces of dignity and he resignedly motioned downwards. "Scouts could camp under there. How can that be platonic?"

With lips working an extra shift to remain pursed, Fili was struggling to prevent that chortle from escaping his mouth. His eyes, however, could not hide the genuine mirth at his brother's rather colourful description, and he cleared his throat. "So it's sexual then?"

"No!" Kili cried dramatically. "I mean, yes! But no! It's- I have no fucking idea what it is, okay? There are times I know what she thinks just by looking at her, times I know how she feels like only by the way she's breathing," he ranted on. "Now she won't let me anymore and I just _can't_ deal with it!"

"You know how she feels like? _Really?_ If you did, you would've spared us all this drama and told her about a year ago!"

"Oh, piss off!" the brunet snapped. "It's my fault I told you."

"No, it's not your fault you told me," Fili corrected, "it's your fault that you haven't told her."

"The woman doesn't even want to look at me anymore, let alone talk!" Kili screamed in frustration. "What am I supposed to do? Go tell her that it's killing me that we don't talk? Or that it's eating me alive not to be able to just hold her hand and give her a simple hug? Huh? Tell me, _what the fuck_ am I supposed to do?"

The blond didn't lose his composure even after his brother's burst. It was about time for that to happen actually, if not a bit late. "Okay, first of all, my ears," he pointed at them and then gestured him to lower his voice. "You need to calm down. You're overreacting-"

"_Overreacting_?" a voice almost shrilled and the other winced at the sound. "If you think I'm overreacting here, you should see what's happening inside my head!" he erupted once again, hands shaking from all the pent up frustration that funneled his rage. "Yes, I like her. I want her. I _need_ her. Always did and always will, even if there are times I want to throttle her."

Crossing his hands in front of him on the desk, Fili mustered his most sarcastic face. "Get away!" he said wryly. "It'd never occur to me if you didn't say it."

"And I'm scared," Kili added quickly.

"Of what?"

"That I will lose her."

It was the second time in two hours that Fili almost gave himself a facepalm. "Because you're in love with her? Good Lord, what else am I going to hear..." His hands clutched the sides of his head as he gaped at his brother. "What if she feels the same?"

"I highly doubt that," the younger scowled, choosing to ignore his brother's grimace, "but even then, I don't think it'd work out. Some relationships are bound to fall apart and people get hurt."

"And some relationships, brother dear, are bound to last and people are happy," the blond countered. "Why wouldn't you two belong to the second category?"

Kili let a deep sigh and bit his lip in thought. "Apart from the two occasions she's been ignoring me, every other time we've argued the past two years, deep inside I knew that, even if we wanted to murder each other afterwards, nothing would change in the long run. We'd continue to bicker because we couldn't do without it. If we, hypothetically speaking, ever fight as a couple," he swallowed tightly, "will we make up?"

His brother slowly slumped back into the seat, looking him straight in the eye, and shrugged. "That is a risk you have to take."

"Losing _her_ is a risk I'll never take."

Fili shrugged again. "Then stop complaining about being unable to touch her, hug her, or whatever you want to do, and go on with your life."

"Yes, that concept is easily grasped," Kili said in mocking agreement. "The execution is a little elusive."

His brother sighed deeply. "Why don't you just try to talk to her? Like, soon. It won't be all rainbows and butterflies, I tell you, but at least you will have made an effort. If you don't, I swear I'll do it for you-"

"Yeah, yeah, spare me the blackmail," the brunet rushed to stop him. "There's no need for you to meddle, I have a mouth and I can talk too."

"Then I _beg_ you, for heaven's sake, use it!"

Upon a silent contemplation of a good five minutes, the first signs of inner defeat became visible. "Oh well..." he sighed. "Since I'm halfway to hell anyway."

"That's the spirit!" the blond grinned like a cat as he rose from the chair, feeling absolutely pleased with himself. "Glad for our little talk. Always a pleasure."

"Oi," Kili warned behind his back, "this little talk never happened. Whatever's been said here today will not go past this door."

"Scout's honour," his brother promised, barely able not to guffaw.

After the initial snappy reply for him to shut up, or more accurately go do something that involved two words and seven letters –three of them being an 'f'- Fili exited the office, quite content with the turn of events and quite hopeful for the future. Little did he know that nothing was bound to go as planned.

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**Hope you liked it! Don't forget to review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hi, guys! Again I'm sorry for the delay, but this accursed semester is actually killing me. Thanks for the reviews, follows and favs for the previous chapter!**

**Bilbo makes a guest appearance in this one under the name Bill Baggins.**

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There was this saying, this good ol' adage people often favoured in everyday life, movies, or simply whenever they lacked a scapegoat and needed a trigger to move on with their lives: 'Time heals everything'. The raw reality of it was a whole another matter to touch upon. People's hearts aren't hard drives, whose content can be deleted whenever one desires. Even less so, their minds. Because as hard as it is for one to control their feelings, it's exceedingly difficult to control their very thoughts. Brain is a tricky little bugger and the complexity of one's subconscious is mind-boggling.

Where does this trail of thoughts lead? To the fact that several _long_ weeks awaited Fili. He wasn't prepared for this, he _really_ wasn't. It was so unexpected and shattering, and it felt as though everything was falling apart. Just like the scene in Inception; the only detail missing was the otherworldly sound of Edith Piaf singing 'Non, je ne regrette rien' to warn him that the dream was collapsing.

Just as he was about to unlock the door, throw his carcass on the sofa and try to sleep it off, came the second blow.

"Wha-?" he mumbled upon seeing Arya packing things up in frenzy.

"I'm packing," she said as she bustled about, shoving clothes in suitcases.

"Yes, I can see that," Fili dryly pointed out. "Where the hell are you go-?"

"Keep the money for the rent, we're already a week into October. Don't know how long I'll be away, so you can rent out the room if you want."

"What the hell are you talking about? Where are you going?"

"Turin," she said calmly.

Fili thought he misheard. "To Italy?" he pinpointed. "Are you kidding me?"

"Yes, to Italy. No, I am not kidding you, my flight leaves at 6:30 in the morning. I'll drop by work later to leave my resignation. Sorry I didn't give the two weeks' notice, but I didn't know I had to leave until three hours ago. Mona will do just fine without me-"

"Arya, what the hell?!" the blond man yelled and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her out of her frenzied to pack state and bringing her to look him in the eye.

"My aunt found a tumor in her ovaries four months ago, she had a surgery to remove it, but now something's wrong. I have no idea what is actually going on, and I need to take care of my five-year-old cousin who's staying at their neighbour's house while his mother is in the goddamn hospital and his father in a different country and will get to him tomorrow night at best. I _need_ to get to him as soon as possible," she gritted through her teeth, "so _please_, don't make me lose more time!"

Fili immediately quieted down once the rant was over. She followed suit a moment later, pinching the bridge of her nose as her hands stopped fumbling with clothes and suitcase zippers.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled regretfully, "I didn't mean to- It's just that there's a lot to take in and do in a few hours and I'm losing it here."

He didn't say anything in response, only continued to look at her in silence. She was quite surprised when in the next moment he was squeezing her in a brief hug, and even more surprised when immediately after he grabbed a handful of clothes and started helping. He knew she didn't fancy chatting about something that bugged her, unless she took the initiative to mention it first. Therefore, he didn't press on.

"I'll get you to the airport."

"No, I'll take the last train," she waved off. "Besides, aren't you supposed to stay at Lizzie's tonight? No need to cancel-"

"Yeah... we sort of broke up."

The entire drawer along with its contents that Arya was ready to empty in the bag reflexively dropped from her hands. Directly onto her foot, for that matter, hence the grumbling squeal of pain.

"What?!" she exclaimed with wide eyes. "How? When?"

Fili remained cool despite his flatmate's bulging from disbelief eyes and gaping mouth. "An hour ago, I think?" he mused. "She'd applied for an apprenticeship somewhere in Paris a few months ago and the class was full. But there was a last minute opening, so they called her, and she's moving to France for the next six months or so."

"Shit," was all Arya managed to reply.

"Mmm," he agreed thoughtfully, "that's what I thought too. I suggested we try even with the distance and all, but she said a lot can happen in six months, most of which we'd spend apart. Or even more than six months in case she finds a job afterwards and decides to live there, so... yeah, I'm pretty sure it's over."

"Damn," she murmured. "Are you okay?"

"Eh," he said with a light scowl, "I've been better, but what can you do? You can't always get what you want."

She couldn't agree with that in full. She wasn't even remotely convinced that he was just feeling blue and that he'd be over this soon. She was rooting for that girl; really was. Lizzie was just so genuine and good, and completely right for Fili. In a rotten turn of luck, however, it had backfired and exploded in their faces.

"It'll pass with time, don't wo-"

"Arya, I expected more from you."

"What-?"

"You can't give me that crap!"

Her forehead crinkled in confusion and her eyes widened. "What, can't I be genuinely sad or angry for two situations at once? What do you want me to do, laugh at you?"

"You've been my cynical touchstone for the past two years, don't get all supportive and soppy with me now!" he accusingly pointed his finger at her. "I broke up with someone, it's not the end of the world."

"Yeah," Arya agreed with wry voice, "how about you try and tell that to yourself one more time without _yelling_ and _spitting_? Perhaps then it might sound true!"

"That's it," he exclaimed, "right there, that's all I want and need from you!"

Her head wiggled from the overwhelming tension and her hands clenched into fists. She waited a few seconds for him to tone it down. "Ready to make contact with humans again?" she asked dryly. "Okay, you have two options. Either suck it up and go on with your life or, if you want her so much, try to keep contact."

"She might not come back after those six-"

"Perhaps she will," Arya countered. "You don't know that, she doesn't know that, nobody knows that. Don't belittle the time you have until that moment arrives, though. The time will pass anyway, so use it."

Fili remained skeptical, regarding her with furrowed brow and examining eyes. "You're freaking me out," he said with all the seriousness he could muster. "Usually I'm the one who gives the pep talks, not you."

"It appears you've been a good teacher," she said with a wry smile. "Fil, do you know what my father taught me? The fight is not over when you lose, it's over when you give up."

The blond almost barked a laugh. "Why don't _you_ employ this then?" he asked pointedly. "I can readily name one person that would be chuffed if you did." Which actually begged the question of how that particular person was going to deal with this when he learned about it. Oh, boy.

A cloud covered her face. "You'd be surprised how much time I spend not following the advice I give to other people."

It was not something to be proud of, of course. Yet anyone, anywhere, could second the claim that it's far easier to give advice to others. For when one gives advice, they don't see the problem up close; they don't get so involved because the consequences might not even affect them in the end. Another golden adage people said from the beginning of time: 'Things are easier said than done'.

"Why don't you follow it at least this once?" Fili's pressing tone jerked her out of her trail of thoughts. "You don't actually mean to leave without telling Kili, do you?"

She shrugged indifferently. "I don't see how my leaving concerns him."

He realised that she was in no mood to see reason and sighed heavily. "Look, Arya, I might not have meddled in this so far, but if you don't tell him, I _will_."

"You don't-"

"Shut up and listen to me," Fili commanded, grabbing both her shoulders. "He's still at work. You said you'd drop by later, so please find him and tell him you're leaving -there's a lot he has to tell you. But I _beg_ you, tell him, because something needs to jar those firebricks that idiot has in his head instead of brain-"

"Alright, I got it, I'll tell him," she impatiently raised a hand to make him shut it, "enough with the preaching. Although I don't see where that will serve other than wasting my time."

"Trust me, it won't be a waste of time," he claimed ardently. "And when he tells you, don't you dare try to avoid or deal with it later. Follow your own bloody advice this time."

First time ever Fili was so ruthless with words. She couldn't say if she liked it better than his usual self or not. It had a certain charm to it, to be honest. Yet the sole response her mind came up with was a scoff that was dangerously close to developing to a full-blown humourless laughter. No more words were said, only she moved to grab her coat from the hanger once the two suitcases and the big hand luggage were ready and closed.

"You know, I actually used to follow that piece of advice," she muttered angrily, more with herself than anyone or anything else. "That must have been five or six debacles ago. I think I'm entitled to catch my breath for a while."

A moment later the door was shut and she was already on her way to work.

* * *

She was too absorbed writing down a note to Nora, the woman she collaborated to have a collage ready for the new edition, to hear the footsteps behind her.

"Arya?" a voice sounded quite surprised. "Is that you? What are you doing here at this hour?"

At the sound of her name her head cocked to the side. The intruder was Bill Baggins from legal -brilliant mind, very funny and kind fellow.

"Hey, Bill," she mumbled absentmindedly, "just came to leave some stuff and my resignation. The guys in human resources need to start looking for a replacement."

"What?" he said in surprise. "You're quitting? Why?"

"Family stuff," she replied evenly. "I have to be away for some time."

"I see," he shook his head in a pensive manner and then offered a sympathetic nod. "Hope you'll be back soon."

Arya lifted her gaze from the folders with the hundreds of photographs that lay on the exceptionally long desk and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Better not let Kili hear that, he'll fire you," she joked and continued to sort out the folders. "I bet he'll piss himself when he hears about this. Expect an office party once I'm out of here."

The relatively short man wasn't even remotely convinced. Sixteen years' experience in the court of law had allowed him to discern lies and liars. To the untrained eye, perhaps her behaviour wouldn't seem so bizarre. Yet he could tell that something was off, that much was obvious.

"I'm fairly certain you're wrong," he told her eventually. "If I know one thing about Kili, trust me when I say he won't be happy."

Arya didn't grace him with a reply. Basically she didn't have anything to say on the matter so, once the folders and the notes to Nora were ready and in order, she took coat and bag in hand and headed to the lifts, with Bill idly walking beside her.

"I honestly can't fathom why you two don't get along," he said thoughtfully as they walked down the corridor.

"Well, he can be a pain in the arse, for starters."

He scoffed. "Everyone has bad days. Still, it's odd that you haven't found a common bond all this time. Birds of a feather flock together, people say."

"See, that is the problem with proverbs, Mr. Baggins," she countered. "When it comes to Physics, they seldom apply."

His lighthearted laugh echoed down the hall. "With the grave difference that people have feelings, whereas electric charges do not."

Arya scoffed. "Touché."

Both pressed the buttons to call the lifts, each waiting to take his own path; he to go home and she to go find Kili just like she promised.

From the chats he'd had with Kili so far, there was a lot of information Bill Baggins extracted regarding his and Arya's afoul acquaintance and working relationship. He'd never heard Kili grumble about her working efficiency –quite the contrary, he spoke highly of her work- so whatever complains he had, originated exclusively from a personal conflict. Clearly there was something between them, everyone had got a whiff of that, yet Kili would never let her get in any danger of being accused of favouritism, or something of that sort, when it wasn't happening; he'd take every precaution and keep a low profile to avoid whispers of any kind. His friend just dearly hoped those two hadn't blurred the lines between business and pleasure at some point in the past and it was now backfiring.

He debated with himself for a few long seconds. "I think you've misunderstood him," he said in a final attempt to change her mind. "He's a good bloke."

The woman on his right seemed unfazed, eyes wearily pinned on the small screen displaying the changing floor numbers.

"To everyone here, he's a great employer. To me, he's also a very good friend. To Fili, a great brother, as far as I know. And I'm running out of examples... Oh!" his eyes brightened. "Only three days ago, he even helped a friend to go study in Paris."

Eyes suddenly snapped from the screen with the bright blue letters up to her reflection on the shiny metal. The wheels in her mind were ready to come apart from the excessive thinking as she put two and two together. She'd be damned if that was a coincidence.

"...no money involved, of course," the man went on. "There was just a vacant post for a student who didn't appear and a second cousin of mine teaches there, so Kili asked me a favour. And to think, his friend doesn't even know he was the one behind this. But everything worked out just fine."

"Yeah," Arya managed to mumble through the blinding surge of anger that constricted her head like pliers.

"See?" he encouraged, oblivious that the information he'd just revealed, instead of helping, would break all hell loose a mite too soon. "I told you he's a good bloke- Ah, my ride is here," The doors opened and he stepped inside, smiling, "Goodnight. I hope everything turns out well for you."

The doors closed before her brain was able to send signal to her lips to form a reply and before she knew it, she was running up the stairs to an office two floors above. It was wise thinking choosing the stairs –no poor soul would like to be in a constricted space with a reincarnation of Hulk.

* * *

Another late afternoon drew to an end, with nothing to do and no one to see later, Kili reflected with a tired sigh as he grabbed his jacket and headed to the hallway.

It wasn't healthy what he was going through, he knew it. It was like an ache, a disease, for which the cure had yet to be found. It might border on obsession, he wasn't sure; although he preferred not to take it there. Because then, beside unhealthy, it'd be creepy.

Out of the blue, as if his mind was broadcasting his torturing notions live to all the deities of the world, the culprit of his malady furiously reached the top of the stairs, bringing a thunderstorm with her.

"You!" Her eyes caught a glimpse of him as he was ready to enter the lift.

His body tensed up from head to toes. Granted, he had seen her raging once or twice, but this time something was off. It wasn't the volumes of the voice, nor the apathy with which she faced him on other occasions and grated on his nerves. This time it was her eyes that had him step back towards the wall. Obviously she was angry; most likely with him, although he had no recollection of doing something to incite her anger –he'd barely seen her the past weeks. Nevertheless, he swallowed tightly when she rushed inside with him and the doors closed.

"Why the hell did you arrange for Liz to go to Paris?" Each word came out emphasised, punctuated with short breaths to keep her voice to neutral volumes.

Silence. Erratically beating, gut wrenching silence.

"Why did you send your brother's girlfriend to fucking Paris?"

Kili didn't even think about losing his cool. Quite the opposite, it was as though someone plugged him in. "And how did you become privy to that information?"

Her throat made a formidable effort to keep a scream from coming out, and she cleared it several times before speaking again, "Does it even matter?! What matters is why did you do it?"

"Can you-"

"You might want different things and I'm pretty sure he respects that, but you don't get to do something like this because he's happy with someone and you're not the center of his universe for awhile!"

"Are you even listening to yourself?" Kili snapped. "That's nonsense! What am I, seven years old?"

"Well, you certainly act like it!"

"Arya-"

"Why did you do it then?" she demanded harshly. "You must have had a serious reason- _Please_ tell me you had a serious reason! You didn't even know her well enough-"

"I didn't need to know her well enough," he growled. "She's not the first woman to break up with him nor the last. Next week he'll probably have found someone else."

"I don't believe you," she shook her head in sheer denial. "Even if you said that you didn't like her, it would make more sense. And I am begging you to tell me the truth. _Why_ the hell did you do it?"

Kili pursed his lips for a good long minute as he mulled over his reply. "You're not an only child," he said through clenched teeth. "You had two brothers, right?"

"What does this have to do with it?" she snapped. "What difference does it make?"

"It does," he insisted. "Because _I_ have a brother as well."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Arya said with a mocking smile that quickly turned into a glower, "that must have slipped my mind when you set a whole scheme behind his back!"

"Listen-"

"What did you expect him to do, thank you, perhaps?" she yelled. "Do you actually feel at peace with yourself right now? Have you no remorse?"

"Will you stop for one-"

"What kind of person are you at the end of the day?" she spat out with disgust.

Kili didn't know what to do to make her rant pause for a second. "Hey, I warn you," he said hoarsely, finger pointing menacingly at her, "with one hint to the office counsellor, I can send you to a shrink!"

Her hand briskly slapped his own out of the way. "And I warn you," she yelled, "with one slap, I can send you to the devil! What is the matter with you? I might know you for only two years, but never so far you've done anything like this! You're not the man I met, let alone the man I thought you to b-!"

Suddenly the lift jolted and stopped.

"_Ugh! _Fuck you and your fucking lift maintenance!" she yelled wildly and her foot reflexively flung towards the glass wall with unprecedented vengeance. Immediately after followed the suppressed growl that the consecutive waves of pain coming from her injured foot prompted. "Son of a bitch!" was the third reaction once the pain became more prominent and her balled into fist hand landed on the glass.

Kili was watching her with caution, not really sure if he ought to interfere. She was terrifying. And also the most beautiful woman he had seen in his life. But still terrifying. Also, currently having difficulty to breathe.

His eyes went wide when he remembered that she was claustrophobic and he rushed to her side. "Are you okay?" he asked urgently. Apparently not, she had turned white. His hands gently grabbed her arms. "Hey, hey, look at me. Arya, look at me, it's fine," he appeased. "Everything's fine, I'm here. Eyes on me."

She was no less raging even in that state. "Kili," she panted out, "piss off." Then she pushed him away and supported her arms on her knees, trying to take deep slow breaths and calm down. She had managed to get this under control since the last time it happened, out of fear that history would repeat itself.

After several minutes of some kind of meditation, she seemed fine -all flustered with anger and breathing. Kili believed it was better than being on the verge of fainting. He didn't budge from her side even for a second, despite her warnings. He was actually scared for a moment back there, which sent him on a short trip to hell and back again. And the relief he felt once blood began to circulate her face anew extinguished every sentiment of fear. He hugged her so tightly that he almost cut the circulation again; not to even mention the numerous kisses on her hair and forehead before she naturally shoved him away with a murderous look.

Kili couldn't take it anymore. Every night he'd wound up tight like a worm, sleeping only five blocks away from where she did, wanting her with supernatural need, but stifling it with inexplicable human guilt.

And while he was trying to sort out his thoughts and put a few words in order, she stood there and studied him with a suspicious, curious even, look. Who was the man whose house she'd dropped by one night four months ago and he'd been out, screwing around and telling her that a man has needs when he got back? Who was the man that took her to a beach five months ago and made her feel than she could trust him? Who was the man she'd been quarreling with for the past two years? Who was the man that was now sitting on her opposite, trying to calm her, and kissing her forehead until she could breathe again? Could all these possibly be the same man, or were they simply different aspects of someone who had yet to show his real self?

Her forehead crinkled in perplexity. "You wear this..." she trailed off, trying to find the right words to voice her thoughts, "this mask and it changes you into something else, something foreign and twisted-"

"Arya-"

"Does that make it easier for you, then?" her tone swiftly changed. What undercurrent of vulnerability held in it disappeared and was replaced by edginess. "All these masks, these roles you play... does it make it easier to do such things?"

"Arya, stop-"

"Just answer me that and I won't ask any more questions-"

"Yeah," he said with indignation, only to make her shut it, "it makes it easier, okay?"

"So you admit that it's a mask."

"You said no more questions," he growled.

"That wasn't a question."

He studied her eyes for a brief moment. "Why do you even care?"

"Oh, so you can ask questions?"

He didn't seem to share her unnervingly placid disposition. "Stop it-"

"You had once told me that you wanted to understand and help me," she said quietly. "I want to understand you too. This is why I care."

His head suddenly snapped to her direction. Creases of doubt and disbelief were etched deep across his forehead. "You- You care?"

"Perhaps I _did_, yeah. But for the man you were months ago, or at least the mask you wore at that point."

"I did not-"

"Why are you not showing your true self for once, say what you really think and feel, say what actually hurts you, annoys you, or whatever? Why do you behave like a spoiled brat who doesn't get what he wants? Seriously, aren't you ashamed to do this to your brother, like some common treacherous little shit-?"

"Shut up!" Kili yelled in her face as his palm collided with the glass wall beside her, his voice so close to aggression that it actually shut her up for a good two seconds. Her eyes, however, remained wide open and stared up at him in mild disappointment and full determination. His hands grabbed both sides of her face then. "Look at me in the eyes and tell me if you honestly believe that I'm a treacherous little shit. Tell me."

Arya scoffed before her palm snapped next to his face, thumb and forefinger emphasizing the proximity, "I was _this_ fucking close to trusting you after that night on the beach –actually _trusting_ you- and then you went and ruined everything!" She pushed his hands away. "And now you ask me if I believe that? Well, I don't know what to believe anymore."

He didn't seem very pleased with the reply.

The awkward silence that ensued the following minutes was broken by her voice, "I still don't understand why you did it, though."

"It's complicated."

"Take your time," she said dryly. "We're stuck in a lift."

"Seriously, won't you ever stop?"

Being around that woman felt like strolling about a fucking minefield. His next step could be the death of him. Out of the blue, his anxiety struck back in the first chance it got. He thought his conscience was at peace, he tried to convince himself that he had done the right thing, but remorse slowly began to creep in.

"Do you know what else I think?" she pressed on. "You don't even feel bad for this-"

"I had to do it, okay?" Kili furiously snapped again in an ultimate attempt to salvage his ripped to pieces pride and self-respect, perhaps his very sanity too. "He's my brother and I didn't want to see him hurt in the end! I'm not blind, I could see what he felt for her and that it wasn't mutual. And I'm not saying that she felt absolutely nothing for him," he added before her mouth even got the chance to open. "But he's in love with her and I don't think she was, judging by how she grasped at the opportunity to leave. She didn't even discuss it with him first! It's better to end it now that he will hurt less, rather than later. Because, take it from someone with year-long experience in the particular field, it fucking _hurts_ in the end!"

Arya maintained her solemn look, not breaking eye contact with him even for a fraction of a second. At one point she realised that he stood closer than she'd originally thought, all crumpled and mighty furious, looking so hurt and aggrieved that she felt a step away from taking back all her accusations.

For a few sharp breaths they just stared at each other, he with wide eyes and a lethal look, while she assessed his sayings.

"That's the first thing you've said I actually believe," she admitted in earnest. "You _think_ you had to do it, for reasons of your own, but don't you reckon it'd be better to just talk to him and not do this behind his back?"

The damn lift apparently thought it fitting to either stop or start in the midst of important conversations, and it was that moment it was activated again. Silence reined the ride for the ten remaining floors to the ground level, except for when he reached out for her arm.

"Don't touch me."

"Can you listen just for once?" he grunted. "Just listen and try to understand?"

"No, I can't," she sighed. "I'm tired of listening and not sure if I want to understand anymore."

"Why don't you let me explain?"

"Because I don't care!" she erupted. "The time I could spare for the others' problems is over, I'm sorry. I've got more important stuff to do than hear your explanations."

As soon as the doors opened she rushed outside, Kili running behind her to catch up. "Damn it, wait!"

"No, I'm not waiting," she said angrily, and then raised a warning finger to him. "And don't you dare drag me into this!"

"Arya-"

"No! Do whatever you want, whatever you think best, don't do anything if you don't want to, but keep me out of this. Goodbye."

With that she was off. And telling him that she was about to leave the country went flying out of the window.

He didn't attempt to follow her – he knew that would end with them turning into a walking circus. Perhaps he'd call her later when she was calmer, or even drop by and take her out for a walk or something.

On his way home, a mental replay of the matinee was unavoidable. It was so long ago he had last been so close to her, and right now he was regressing to his addiction, mulling over the reminiscent of her, her touch, her perfume, how much he'd missed it all, as well as his quietly deepening guilt about his actions.

* * *

**Hope you liked it! Leave a review if you want!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello, all! I may sound unoriginal but, again, I'm sorry for the delay, people. Thank you very much for the follows, favs and reviews!**

**Also, Arya's cousin is mentioned in this one and instead of Aragorn, he's called Estel.**

* * *

It was almost 8 p.m. when Kili had decided not to follow her and instead go home and wait till she calmed down. Four hours and three deliberately declined calls later, he gave up for the night. She was in no mood to talk to him, that much was obvious.

It was almost 4:30 in the morning when he shifted to change sides in bed for what felt like the zillionth time. He was restless. Excessively so. The thought of Arya, of what had taken place in that lift, of what he had done, pretty much everything that had happened in the course of the last five months, all contributed equally to his severe lack of sleep that night.

Until he couldn't take it anymore. Neither himself nor his mind.

With a leap that a deer would envy he jumped out of the bed, put on the first pair of jeans and shoes he found on his way, and hurtled out in the streets.

* * *

Approximately five minutes later, and right after Fili had _finally_ managed to doze off, something -or someone- crashed against the door of his house. The blond jerked upright and rubbed his eyes to open, trudging to the door upon hearing the consecutive knocks that were admittedly far from calm, and then his brother's voice urging –oddly- Arya to hurry.

"What the he-?" the blond murmured tiredly, still rubbing his eyes with the base of his palm. "It is 4:30 in the bloody morning. If you're not dying or something, get the fuck out of here and let me sleep."

"As much as I appreciate your display of affection, I'm not here for you," the brunet said dryly before pushing him aside and heading to the hall in a hurry. "I need to see her-"

"Wh-?" Fili's face scrunched up in confusion as he almost chased his brother in the house. "Kili, she left like five hours ago."

"What?" the other abruptly came to a halt and the blond almost bumped into him. "What do you mean 'left'? Where did she go?"

"Um, to Italy?"

"_What?_" the wide-eyed brunet sputtered. "_Why?_"

Fili yawned and then looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean 'why'? Dude, she dropped by work to leave her resignation- I even told her you were there and to find you, so you'd finally tell her and you two could work it out before she left-"

Kili was starting to feel the left side of his body go numb.

"-didn't she tell you?"

"Yeah, this is the face of someone in the know!" the brunet exclaimed wildly. "Why the hell did she go to Italy?"

"Her aunt is in the hospital and her cousin was alone, so she had to go and help," Fili replied, more awake now. "Don't ask more, that's all I know."

He wasn't in the position to realise the general discomfort, only managed to discern his brother mouthing the word 'fuck' as he viciously pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What the hell happened?"

The hand dropped from his face and Kili fixed him with an exasperated look, answering after a few long seconds of trying to process things. "We sort of fought again this afternoon, and she might have skipped telling me anything."

"Oh, for crying out loud, man!" Fili said with a weary sigh. "I can't stand you two anymore-"

Kili's mind wheels were spinning in frenzy. The earth beneath his feet felt as though it was crumbling to pieces. "When does her flight leave?" he asked anxiously. "Did it leave already?"

"No," a barely awake Fili rubbed his temple, trying to recall her flight information, "it leaves in two hours. It's the 6:30 to Milan-"

There was so much to do and in so little time, Kili was probably going into a panic attack. But no, no, there was no time even for that. Now, he had to hurry.

"Gotta go," he announced. "Catch you later."

He fled his brother's house as if the devil himself was upon him and sprinted back home to get his car, mind and vision on the verge of blurring. Shuffling through roads and cutting in front of other vehicles, the only palpable feeling he had was guilt. To say that he drove at breakneck speed would be a grave understatement. His car might as well be a new edition of the Millennium Falcon. Bless his luck, he didn't get a speed ticket.

* * *

_A month later_

It was early November and the weather was unusually warm for this time of the year. The past four weeks had flown by in a blur of work, work and -oh surprise- more work. It couldn't have come at a more opportune time. Fili was craving for a distraction. Anything that could get his mind off of all those thoughts that tortured him and made him miss his sleep from time to time.

Granted, he missed Lizzie, but he was coping quite well if he were honest. Now he sympathized with Arya's need to stay alone on occasion. He decided not to rent out the spare room in his house, if only to enjoy a few moments of silence and contemplation until he gained his bearings again.

It was almost as if his and his brother's habits were reversed. While he spent most of his time working, Kili couldn't sit idle even for a day. He just had to do something. Anything to spare himself the inaction. And because of that very fact, this twisted transposition of lifestyle, Fili got to spend close to no brotherly time with him this past month. He didn't judge him for it, though. Arya was two countries away and, in contrast to their weekly phone calls, she and Kili hadn't got in touch at all. So it was perfectly natural to be a little miffed. Fili was pretty much certain his brother was holding a grudge against her for reasons he never inquired to know, otherwise he would have definitely called her.

What a shame that all this was the reality solely in his mind, for Kili held no grudge against her and had tried several times to get in touch with her. Numerous messages, a remarkable number of phone calls, _all_ ignored. It was driving him insane. It had been two weeks since he stopped trying, out of fear that she'd block his number or go as far as getting a restraining order.

Unlike his brother's transformation into a working machine, his life turned into a maze of tormenting thoughts, prodigious amounts of alcohol, hardly any food, elusive dreams, a constant haunting feeling of guilt, and a mild case of insomnia. Work was actually fortunate to be squeezed somewhere in there.

Fili might think him miffed for all the reasons mentioned above but, in truth, those covered just a small proportion of the cause. Kili had never been one to run away from his problems. His father had raised him with some balls and a solid piece of advice: face his problems head-on, and always be candid with everyone. And now, that advice had gone flying out of the window. Boy, he had fucked up. _Big_ time.

He thought himself lower than a criminal. Brimming with cowardice and fear, he still hadn't found the courage to tell the truth to his brother. It was out of sheer remorse and shame that he couldn't spend even an hour in his brother's presence, because he feared Fili would figure everything out just by looking at him.

* * *

Another night was about to roll agonizingly slow and Kili found himself sitting alone on a chair beside the window that overlooked the city at night, swigging his fourth beer and staring outside, his eyes captured by the flickering lights of cars and buildings. He tried not to think of anything, honestly struggled, but all the images and voices would swarm back to his head like an invading army.

If he didn't contemplate his actions, he would think of Arya. If he didn't think of Arya, he would contemplate his actions.

It was a fucking Sisyphean task.

His mind travelled weeks back in time, again to that fatal evening. Yes, he had done the dramatic running-to-the-airport thing after Fili told him she was leaving for Italy and he hadn't been even a tiny bit hesitant; quite the contrary, he'd been fully determined to do whatever it took to make her at least understand the reasons he did what he did. Other than that, he'd had no idea what else to say and if either of them could handle him saying _it_.

But, in a twisted turn of luck, he didn't get to the airport just in time. In fact, he got there quite early. If only he was in the _right airport_, though.

The absurdity of the situation prompted Kili to laugh once again. Four weeks later, and it was still cracking him up. The only reason he imposed a laugh to himself was simply to avoid either demolishing part of his house with his bare hands, or end up in the hospital with half his bones broken.

_The ride from one airport to the other took something less than an hour, yet that was enough for him to miss her flight. He arrived at the front desk just as the plane took off. He'd half a mind to scream at thin air from the frustration. What held him back was the prudent thought that the last thing missing from his life was trouble with the airport security. So instead, he began to laugh. A crazed sound that in no way marked merriment. And he didn't stop laughing even when he got back home. Only when he crouched on the floor did that deranged laughter turn into a cry. No fucks he gave for being a 27-year-old man who was weeping like a baby. He didn't even know why he was crying in the first place. Not because he didn't get there in time to see her in itself; rather because of everything. He simply wanted to blow off some steam._

_On the next day, only after Fili had a brief chat with her on the phone did Kili manage to gather adequate information. He was present, even asked to talk to her, but she gave an excuse and hurriedly hung up before the phone could change hands._

_Two weeks later he gave up his attempts to contact her, pondering on how much he had fucked up to the point that she didn't even want to hear him. He couldn't even figure out why she was so cross with him for something that involved him and his brother -it didn't make any sense. Still, he wished he were there for her, wished he could do something to make her feel better. Because, judging by how Fili sounded when they were on the phone, she wasn't exactly fine. It was killing him not being able to hear her voice, comfort her, or just know what was going on. He only knew random facts, but they were enough to make a well-hidden pain of old resurface._

_He respected her indirect way of telling him to piss off and not disturb her. But that didn't mean he was giving up entirely. It was already night when he called his mother, chatting with her about random things for a few minutes before easing the burning topic in._

_"Hey, mum, can you find something for me?" he asked with caution, hearing her humming affirmatively in reply. "It's in the library, second drawer to the left. The blue folder."_

_"_The one with the white stamp?_" she asked while rummaging through the contents of the drawer._

_"No, no, the one under that," he said and there was a light gasp then._

_Her voice was thick with surprise, "_That is your father's-_"_

_"I know what it is," he said quickly. "Can you find Dr. Wilson's number? I need it."_

_"_Kili, what's going on?_"_

_"We're fine, don't worry," he said in earnest. "It's just... Arya's aunt. She was admitted a week ago, that's why Arya had to leave."_

_It didn't take her more than two seconds to put two and two together. "_Oh no... Is it serious?_"_

_"I have no idea," Kili laughed bitterly. "She doesn't even talk to me."_

_"_What?!_" the squealing voice almost made him put a safe distance between his head and the earphone. "_Why?_"_

_"Mum, I'll explain some other time," Kili promised. "Now I need the number."_

_She read the number to him and he quickly wrote it down on a small notepad that lay on his desk before hanging up._

* * *

Arya had spent the last couple of hours curled up beside the kitchen window, listening to one of her old Pink Floyd albums and staring outside at the dimly lighted road in front of the building her uncle and aunt lived. It wasn't particularly cold yet, but people were already shrouding themselves with oversized coats and warm jackets. She watched as they hurried up and down the street, others to go home and others ready to enjoy their night in some fancy club. She envied them. Not that she couldn't go out, but she was not really in the mood. Most of her friends here were working the following morning, after all -not that this was a hindrance to a few party animals, though.

"Come on," a voice and a hand nudged her out of her blissful trance, "you need to get some sleep."

She pulled the headphones from her ears and nodded negatively, "I can't. Let me sit here and maybe I'll fall asleep at some point."

"Why can't you sleep?"

"I don't feel like sleeping yet."

"Why not?" her aunt insisted patiently.

"I'm not working, for starters, so I may as well sit up late."

"So that's what this is about? You're not working? And why do I get the feeling that even if you were working, you'd still sit up late?"

"Please go back to bed, you need to rest," Arya sighed. "We'll both get an earful if uncle wakes up."

"Oh, I'd love to see that happen," her aunt countered wryly. "Him to wake up, see you looking like this and then dare to give us an earful. Now, will you tell me what's the matter?" There was a ten-second pause during which her niece briefly looked at her and quickly back out of the window. Oooh. That was going to be either a very long night, or a very short chat. "What should I get you to open up? Milk and cookies just like old times, or do I finally have an excuse to open the Bowmore?"

"Can we please let this go and just let the night pass in silence?"

"No, I _won't_ let it go," her aunt said firmly. "You look ready to burst. We've raised you for a few years, remember? We know you quite well." She then plopped down beside her, lifting her niece's legs to sit and then placing them on her lap. "Tell me what's wrong."

Silence enveloped them for the next three minutes before Arya's mouth produced comprehensible sounds. "I miss London," she said quietly. "I'm not saying it's not nice to be here with you three, just... I miss my job, the people..."

"I see," Rae shook her head thoughtfully. "You don't have any contact with them? E-mail, Skype, something?"

"Sure," Arya admitted. "Fil– Do you remember Fili, my flatmate? We talk once or twice a week, he's doing well. The guys at work are fine too and... that's pretty much it."

"You know that you _can_ go back if you want, right?" her aunt encouraged. "Your uncle is here with me most of the ti-"

"No, I'm not leaving," Arya said firmly. "It's better to have someone around when uncle isn't here."

"I don't need anyone to mother me. In three months I'll be back to work," Rae stated. "If anything, _I_ have three children to take care of."

"No one's mothering you," the young woman rushed to appease. "We just want you to recover soon and keep an eye on you, just in case. And... I can't just go back. Going back means looking for a job and a new place to live, at least here I only have to find a job. And if I were to leave, I would go somewhere else; there are hundreds of places I haven't been to yet."

"My little traveller," Rae laughed softly, "who wants to let her hair flow in the wind as she rides through the glen, firing arrows into the sunset."

Her niece nodded lively. "And I'll take Estel with me and we'll go to Tierra del Fuego-"

"Uh, Magellan?" her aunt interrupted. "I'm not letting you take my son anywhere near Antarctica until he's eighteen."

"Oh, come on, don't be a killjoy!"

"I honestly hope I'll be blessed to see your reaction if Estel ever announces to you that he'll take your five-year-old child to a trip there."

The young one's chortle echoed quietly in the kitchen and no more words were exchanged after that. Her expression became unreadable again, her posture disturbingly relaxed and her look wistful as she gazed outside.

Rae studied the figure of her niece from tip to toes and then pulled a straight face, determined to use the big guns. "You're an oaf."

"Why, thank you."

"You're welcome," her aunt said defensively. "We knew you were going to be a weird one growing up." Arya grinned like a cat. "I was in the hospital until two weeks ago, but you're looking worse than me. You seem more like yourself now."

She looked back at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"You were mopey," her aunt pointed out. "Way too quiet. You have not been so quiet since your-"

"I'm fine."

Rae looked at her carefully with that steady grey gaze of hers.

"What?" Arya gritted through her teeth.

"You're doing it again," her aunt laughed. "You're back to sulking. What else is wrong?"

"Nothing else is wrong."

"I know something else is wrong."

Arya whimpered. She didn't know how that woman was doing it, but she certainly had a knack for reading one's thoughts no matter how hard one tried to hide them. "It's- I just-" she swallowed tightly. "I learned something that someone did the day before I left. Something I never expected him to do, that's all."

"And?" Rae gestured her to continue.

"I don't know, he's- It's hard to explain. He was my boss, he's Fili's brother, and... it's just unpleasant," she shook her head in disappointment. "Unpleasant history."

Her aunt was pensive for a while. "I think I remember you talking about him sometimes when we spoke on the phone," she said eagerly, quite pleased that her memory was still fit.

"Probably ranting about him," Arya corrected.

Her aunt's eyes suddenly beamed. "Is he the one who was calling you every two hours three weeks ago?"

The young one's shoulders hunched. "Yes," she said with evident displeasure, "that's him."

"I assume you don't like him so much then?"

"It's not that I don't like him, it's just that he's-" She let a deep sigh. "What he did, it doesn't make sense."

"So you do like him?"

"No, I don't!"

Her aunt almost laughed. "That didn't sound very convincing."

"I don't-"

"Is his name 'Kili'?"

The young woman almost lost her balance and fell from the seat. Her neck twisted so that she now faced her aunt, eyes wide from the surprise that swiftly resized back to normal. "For the love of God, how are you doing this?" she asked, shrinking away in fear.

And just like that the fish were caught in the net. "Oh, I've caught you mumbling his name in your sleep like five or six times," Rae revealed. "It doesn't take a genius to figure some things out."

Arya began to feel exceedingly uncomfortable and shifted nervously on her seat.

"So you're sulking because of him," her aunt concluded, pulling her back before she could walk away. "Why? Because you're away? He called like a million times and you didn't ans- Ohhh, he likes you too, doesn't he?"

"_Definitely_ not."

"Yes, he does!" her aunt chuckled with delight.

"No, he doesn't," Arya insisted and a thunderstorm burst behind her eyes. "And I don't like him. Apparently I liked only a mask, a fake façade."

"What happened?" Rae asked gingerly and watched as her niece jumped up and began stomping up and down the kitchen floor. "Where did the whole thing blow?"

"I had set as a rule not to trust anyone ever again. Because if you trust, you get hurt in one way or another. But there enter Kili!" Arya exclaimed sarcastically. "What am I supposed to do with him? I honestly wanted to trust him. I wanted _him_. I was in love with him – I still am, for God's sake! With someone who almost made me trust him and then went and fucked up everything!" she said with a crazed chuckle, though low enough so as not to set the house on foot. "Yes, I had tried not to let those feelings evolve into something big, but they did. And there's nothing else I can do to stop them- Trust me, _I've tried_!"

She then stood there in stunned silence with hands resting on her hips, clenching her eyes shut and struggling to gather her pieces after the emotional burst she had just withstood.

What the hell was that?

_That_ was probably something to be expected when someone was on one's mind for a large portion of the day, a creepy voice in her head replied. And the physical aspect of it was a mild case of verbal diarrhea.

True, the last thing Arya wanted or opted was to think about him. But, to be honest, she just couldn't help it. She couldn't control her mind, at least not all the time. He'd sneak into her thoughts during chores, before sleep, during sleep, basically every time she was alone and there was silence.

Shaking her head lightly, she stole a glance at her aunt who still sat there as calm as ever and stared at her with a look of understanding and genuine concern -thank God, no pity; that was something she couldn't deal with. "I'm sorry about that," she said evenly, and before her aunt could protest or say anything she'd already clammed up. "I'd rather go to sleep now, if you don't mind. Goodnight."

With that, Arya turned on her heel and numbly scurried to her room, resolving to take complete control of what else could possibly come out of her mouth from now on and, mainly, of what already assailed her brain.

* * *

**Hope you liked it! Don't forget to review!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello, all! I'm alive as you see, although I wouldn't go so far as to add thriving. One thing's for sure, I have no intention to abandon this story even if the updates may be a bit scarce. Thanks to all you who read, followed, favourited and left a review in the previous chapter!**

**There is a line from The Imitation Game somewhere in here. I saw it ten days ago and it was admittedly one of 2014's best films (don't know who I love most anymore, Cumberbatch or Knightley). Very nice script, incredible performances and well-worthy of the Oscar nominations imo.**

* * *

Once upon a time, there was a man and a woman who took a short trip to a quiet little beach somewhere across the coastline of the North Sea. It had been a night bound to go unexpectedly well; a milestone in both their lives, if you want.

It was during that evening, observing the aforementioned woman as they sat on that blanket upon the soft sand, that a part of this man _knew_ he was in love with her. After that night, he subconsciously struggled to hold fast to his dislike of her. Why? Because of his mind. For what his mind couldn't let soak in was that, despite himself, and before they had even managed to form a proper friendship, he had lost his heart.

The man had once taken the oath not to let that simple, yet incredibly vital muscle rule his head. That was many years ago. And then _boom_. She had suddenly barged into his life and turned his orderly mind into chaos. His subconscious was burdened with the difficult task of reevaluating his choices and notions about the future by adapting her in them. As much as he disliked this, he couldn't control it. It was his subconscious; it functioned of its own volition.

Searching now for that picture he had taken of her and some friends less than two years ago where her smile shone bright and genuine, and staring at it in the solitude of his house, a wistful smile rose up to his face as he once again felt the truth behind the words –he _loved_ her.

With most of his past relationships it was relatively calm, and occasionally passionate. Something felt terribly amiss if they didn't get to see each other for more than two or three days. Fights were never big since disagreements were quite rare, and most of the time was filled with laughs, tender moments and quite unsuccessful attempts to not disturb the neighbours.

But this woman naturally had to be the exception. Why on earth would her case be ordinary? Though, who ever loved ordinary? With her it was something completely different. It was like a volcano, explosive and ready to erupt at unexpected moments, full of arguments over petty or important matters. There were also those rare times they had spontaneously laughed with something the other said, smiled even, or those times they were staring at each other for thirty whole minutes without exchanging a word; hazel green eyes boring into dark ones, intense and penetrating, battling to delve into each other's thoughts, and both their owners feeling at ease with this bordering-on-disturbing eye contact. He couldn't do that with anyone else. Basically no one else had the patience or the nerve to challenge him in these ways, probably because they had better things to do in their life.

Like attracts like, people said. Yet others disagreed, claiming that opposites attract. Sometimes, he and she were quite similar, and sometimes too different. It didn't make any sense. What was it that was so different about her? He didn't know. He only knew that what he felt was like an ache. A secret longing for someone he didn't even know he wanted until it was too late.

Soon after the first time they met, it became his well-concealed favourite pastime to watch her. Not in an odd way. He just liked to watch her movements, how she'd lean over a desk and examine countless albums while biting her bottom lip in thought, how she ate or had a drink, how vividly she'd wave her hands when she blabbered on about something interesting, how beautiful she looked when she smiled and laughed, especially when he was the cause of it –a rather rare occasion, to be sure, but feasible nonetheless.

He was also wild about riling her up. Again, he couldn't tell why. It was an urge originating from the abyssal depths of his subconscious and he had long ago chosen not to enlarge upon it.

He felt so sad now that she was gone. Sad that she never returned his calls and probably never would. After that one time he broke down upon his unsuccessful attempt to catch her flight, there was only once more he allowed himself to seem less impervious; a night that he was on the porch at his mother's house and blankly stared at the dark sea ahead, drinking beer after beer. The porch swing reminded him of _her_; how much she appeared to like sitting there and gazing at the sea. Much to his embarrassment, his mother had been watching him from afar. He hadn't reacted at all when he realised it. But she was his mother and a mother can easily tell when her child is troubled. He had simply cracked a half-hearted smile and she had understood. No words were spoken. She'd sat there beside him then, and for the rest of the night they stared at the soft ripples of water that washed seaweed up to the beach, until the first strands of light made appearance over the eastern horizon. After that night, he wore his impervious mask anew, too proud to let any sign of weakness show again in the presence of others, whether family or not.

He hadn't been with someone –and he meant that in the indelicate way- since he couldn't even remember when. Call it too busy, call it too distracted, call it too fixated on the infuriating woman two countries away who had been ignoring him for the past few months and made him go berserk.

What he felt for her was definitely _not_ platonic, for certain. It was strong and irreversible, so very real in every level someone could fathom. Still, its physical manifestation, though expected, was a bloody nightmare. Not having her around was unbearable. Not being able to be with her was killing him. Not being able to be with her in a more intimate way was slowly and steadily eating him away. He bet she didn't have the slightest inkling how much she was tempting him back when she was still around, even while doing things completely unrelated to anything sensual. Admittedly, that was odd. But now? Bloody hell, she was actually tempting him even now that she was in another country. This was plain unhealthy.

It might have taken a respectable amount of self-restraint to keep control before she left, what with all the incidents involving several walls he'd pushed her against, or that morning he caught a glimpse of her naked after a shower, or their night at the beach. Not to mention the dreams he had with her. After her departure, it positively got worse. She wasn't there for any more incidents to happen, alright, but the dreams continued to haunt him. Every single fucking morning he'd wake up drenched in sweat and would have to make his way to a shower colder than winter, if that was humanly possible, to calm down. Yet control eluded him with as much difficulty as sand had in slipping through one's fingers. On more occasions than he would've liked to admit the cold shower was of zero help, so if he were to look presentable while walking down the streets of the third most bustling city on the planet, the deed had to be done whether he felt guilty afterwards or not. And if he were completely honest, sometimes in his dazed, aroused state, he couldn't even stir up the age-old argument of how wrong it felt to think of her that way in order to satisfy his need.

The possibility of resolving this little problem was rather bleak, and the realisation of that had hurt far more than it should have. Despite the guilt, it was the only way to maintain his last semblance of sanity. It was a basic need of man after all, though one could argue that it wasn't something he absolutely had to do to survive. So, yes, perhaps he was pathetically weak. On the other hand, there was a small chance King Lear might be supportive of him, considering his claim about people's needs -although Kili seriously doubted that his problem fell into the same category, mainly because King Lear referred to material needs and not physical ones.

The list of his woes happily ended with the lasting remorse about his indirect meddling in Fili's relationship with Lizzie. Oh, he had yet to find the nerve to tell his brother the truth about that. He was a fucking coward and wholeheartedly believed that the emotional hell he was going through was well-deserved.

And time ran forward, pitiless and uncaring of petty concepts such as humans and their feelings.

Almost a month later, his mind still couldn't find peace. He'd made a habit of staring out of windows for long periods of time, away in places no one could see. There usually was a lot of surprised blinking when someone called his name and pulled him out of his tormenting thoughts, followed by a grim look. Then he'd throw himself into work with disturbing fervour, if only to take his mind off these haunting notions just for a little while. Though it seldom worked. His mother had noted that he didn't look the same, that he had changed; not just physically –he had lost a few pounds, let his hair and stubble grow, yes- but as a person too. For the better or worse, no one but himself knew.

* * *

If someone asked Arya, October to early December was pretty much a blur. If she had to list the main points, that would be the following:

1) Her aunt was transferred from the hospital she was originally admitted to, to another one, and the doctor who now treated her was the head of the Department of Oncology, who was too eager to take over her case for reasons unknown. They had found a cyst –thank the heavens, not a tumor- in her ovary, which had to be removed, and the doctor had recommended a prophylactic oophorectomy to avoid similar instances in the future. After a lot of information, consideration and talks, she had agreed to have the surgery. It was successful and she was now on the mend, resting at home, until she could return to work after New Year's. Uncle did everything in his power to limit his business travels down to zero so as to be there with her, plus Arya's support and very presence were very important, considering she was mainly the one taking care of 5-year-old Estel. And so, after two hectic months, there finally was some peace in their house.

2) Arya, now, was caught in an avalanche of constant activity to contribute to the household in one way or another. Granted, the money her uncle earned was more than enough for the so far two months her aunt was on sick leave, but still, working inactivity drove her insane. She hadn't found something permanent, though, only sold a few photographs to a couple of local magazines and newspapers, because she still had to keep an eye on a five-year-old imp that looked like he was on speed.

3) _Kili_. Yes, her hopes had been disappointed, but she had learned not to ask for more. She had been hurt before, it was no big news now. But going blindly into something without considering the possible consequences was for optimists. And one could only take so much disappointment before they decided to keep their reservations and raise walls. So she had pushed aside the hurt his absence caused her, the implied rejection hidden in a chest somewhere in the depths of her mind. Still, just thinking about it hurt her. Thinking about it was a reminiscent of her 15-year-old self, who used to sit quietly against the kitchen window every night and wait for her parents and brothers to come and take her back home, until her uncle would wake up and lead her back to bed because her hands and feet were freezing.

A whole different country was the place she had to settle now and she understood what was expected of her; to suck it up and move on. She knew her place in the scheme of things. And if her treacherous heart ever happened to forget, her mind would help remind her.

And thus, life moved on.

* * *

So, through good times and bad, both of them held fast to their beliefs of what everyday life was going to be from now on, humdrum and uneventful, without the other's presence there. Until... one winter day, a sly northerly wind blew in from the Alps and their lives took a turn the fates did not intend.

That very same night Arya had had one too many Vesper martinis, a drink believed to hold the power to unlock hidden yearnings and disclose desires. She was in a state of slight gaiety upon her return home and, as she changed into the clothes she slept in, it seemed that a new life there might suit her and would take a turn for the better after all.

Alas, the clever north wind had other plans.

The result of a respectable number of martinis in such a cold night was to have her mental faculties seriously fail her. Twisting through the sheets like a wriggling worm, she felt too exuberant and inexplicably irked to doze off. She did not heed her mind's warnings to remain under the warm quilt of her bed and wait for sleep to claim her. Instead she got up, feet led by an invisible force to slide across the hallway until coming to a halt beside the kitchen window, where she slumped down on the window seat.

* * *

Kili was violently roused by the sound of an incoming call. With eyes practically waxed from sleep, he blindly reached out a hand to turn on the little table lamb on the side of the bed and grab his mobile. "Mmm?" was all he managed to say as he was very reluctant to abandon the warmth of the covers and sit upright.

"_You're a wimp,_" a voice croaked.

It seemed to have an adrenaline-like effect on him, as he almost jumped upright this time. "Arya?" he said with eyes slightly wide from the surprise. "'S that you?"

"_You're a big, huge wimp- No, no, actually, you're a dullard. Firebricks have better brain function than you._"

"Arya, what-?"

"_You are stupid and blind and can't see beyond your nose, you hear me?_"

He yawned and rubbed his eyes to open. "You called at three in the morning and woke me up to tell me this?"

"_It's four here, and yes,_" she said immediately. "_You don't deserve to sleep when I can't._" Her heart fluttered in a weird, forgotten manner when he laughed in response.

He had the vague feeling that this wasn't her. This was Jack Sparrow at his best –and least sober, apparently. But God almighty, he had missed her. "Why did you call me?"

Moments of hesitation.

"Why now, after all these weeks?" he demanded. "I've called you so many times-"

"_I noticed,_" she admitted. "_And I wasn't the only one._"

"What do you mean?"

"_Well, it's not a gargantuan house and both my aunt and uncle are quite observant. Surely they're expected to hear a phone buzzing all the damn time for two weeks straight._"

It was the last straw for Kili's frayed temper. "Then why the fuck didn't you answer?!" he burst in frustration.

"_I doubt there was anything else left to tell me._"

"Oh, really?" he laughed sarcastically. "So what the hell are you calling me for now? Did you suddenly decide that there might actually be something else I wanted to tell you?" Why are you torturing me, he wanted to add.

Despite the wince his angry voice brought to her face, she wasn't deterred. Not giving much thought to it, her mouth answered of its own volition, "_I'm cold._"

"You're cold," he repeated thoughtfully, trying to quell his fit of rage. "That's why you called me. Because this does make so much sense."

Silence. He could hear her breathing, though, so he was sure she hadn't hung up.

"_You didn't get your t-shirt back._"

That caught him off guard. "Huh?"

"_Your t-shirt,_" she spelled. "_You didn't get it back that time months ago, when you got sick. You left it on my desk the morning after._" A hiccup. "_I know 'cause I'm wearing it right now._"

He took a deep breath. "If you like it so much, you could've asked to have it the very first time I gave you to wear it."

"_Why would you give me your t-shirt if I asked for it?_"

"Because you'd ask for it."

"_Yes, but why?_"

"Because you would ask."

"_Ugh! You are infuriating._"

"And you are drunk."

"'_M not drunk!_"

"Arya," his warning voice trailed off.

"_Alright,_" she harrumphed, "_maybe a little._"

He huffed in irritation, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Please tell me you're home and not on a street or something."

"_I'm home_," she said quietly, inwardly wondering about his sudden concern.

"Have you at least eaten anything?"

"_Perhaps_."

"You don't know if you ate?"

"_Well... the night is a bit of a blur._"

"You could have answered 'no'."

"_But what if I did eat?_"

"Then you could have answered 'yes'."

"_That's why the word 'perhaps' has been invented._"

His head slumped slightly forward. "You are a surprisingly articulate drunk, you know that?"

It was true. On certain occasions in the past, she may or may not have started quoting Milan Kundera while honouring Ireland's best export after Pierce Brosnan.

"Still, you failed to answer me why you're calling back after all this time."

I missed you. Only three words, so simple to say, yet she didn't. Her pride would not let her. "_Told you,_" she insisted, "_I'm cold._" Wooh. Liar, liar, pants on fire.

A deep sigh left his mouth and he grudgingly decided to play along. "Very well," he feigned agreement. "Why don't you wear something warmer than my t-shirt?"

"_Don't want to,_" she said frankly, although her voice was quite low, perhaps in an attempt to mask that disturbing frankness. "_It still reeks of you, by the way._"

"You haven't washed it even once all these months?"

"_I never said it was a bad smell!_" she protested.

"You have my permission to keep it if you want to, but I'd suggest you wash it every once in a while."

"_You know what? Piss off,_" she mumbled in annoyance. "_I'd better send it back to its owner, so he can wash it himself._"

"No," he said in earnest. "Keep it. You look far prettier in it than its owner." There was a whimpering sound on the other end of the line in response. He could easily imagine her sulking and the mere thought of it made the corners of his mouth curl upwards.

"_Why would you ever say such things to me?_" she demanded with a complaining voice. "_Do you know that my bum is sweating right now because of it?_"

Kili couldn't hold back this time. The rumbling chuckle that bubbled under his chest was out in the world, though he quickly regained control of himself and cleared his throat. "I had no idea my compliments could have such an effect on you."

"_Well, they do!_" she snapped. "_But any compliments coming from _you_ make me very uncomfortable._"

"Why?"

"_Because it feels like you're profoundly perjuring yourself._"

"For your information, I am not." His tone was practically stern as he said that. He wanted her to believe him so badly, although he could barely suppress that flutter in his stomach just at the sound of her voice.

"_I'm entitled to believe otherwise._"

"And why is that, if I may ask?"

"_Because I don't trust you._" The answer came naturally, as unforced and spontaneous as flowing water.

Kili felt his heart sinking to the depths of the Pacific. "Why?"

"_I have my reasons._"

"Will you tell me so I can get the chance to plead my case?"

"_You know what's funny?_" she mused. "_I _did_ notice you'd left it behind that morning and just didn't give it back to you afterwards._"

Kili's face scrunched up in confusion. "I hadn't realised we were still talking about the t-shirt."

"_We are always talking about the t-shirt,_" she said matter-of-factly. "_You know what else is funny? That there was this one time I decided to go against all odds, believing that something good would come out of it. Do you know what the result of this was? My trust issues got worse."_

She appreciated that he remained silent for a while, giving her time to either elaborate further or simply snap.

"_And do you know what's even funnier?_" she asked with a crazed chuckle. "_That even after all this, I'm still wearing the damn thing in my sleep and won't part with it, no matter how cool and impervious I try to look!_"

Kili's jaw dropped slightly. "Arya, please li-"

"_Auntie?_" A cautious voice from the other end of the line interrupted him and it was definitely not hers. What he could only hear was that unknown juvenile voice asking, "_What's wrong? Who are you yelling a-_"

Before Kili had the chance to get a response, the line went dead. His eyes closed as he gritted his teeth in frustration. Again, he had missed the opportunity to get things just a bit right with her. He lowered himself back on the bed, thoughts spinning wildly in his head.

Decisions, decisions...

It was admirable how one's mind could be made up in the space of mere minutes a phone call lasted. He didn't get any sleep afterwards. Instead, he turned on his laptop.

* * *

Dawn found the tall brunet man with a warm cup of coffee in hand as he stood by the large window of his room, staring at the city's eastern skyline that was painted with orange pink and yellow shades.

Paraphrasing the well-known proverb, since the mountain was doubtfully going to come to Muhammad, Muhammad would go to the mountain.

A faint smile rose up to his face, coming to match his determined look, and Kili felt rather pleased with his purchase of an air ticket -a seat in the 3:40 flight to Turin departing in two weeks.

* * *

**Hopefully you enjoyed that. Let me know in your review!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello, nice people! Hope you're doing great! I've been sick for almost a week now and just survived a visit to the dentist, so yay me. Many thanks to the new followers and those who favourited!**

**hannew, cbagay89, heroherondaletotherescue, OneInsomniaticHoosier, DiscountJoanJett, overlordred: Thank you very much for your reviews, guys, you are so kind! Love you all!**

**In this one we get to see a glimpse of Lizzie (for someone who asked for her a while ago). Small warning, there's one too many f-bombs in here because there's a fight. ****Also, the song Kili listens to, 'Johnny B', is by The Hooters. One of my all-time favourites.**

* * *

It had started as a promisingly uneventful Thursday night, with his plans varying between falling asleep on his bed and falling asleep in front of the telly. It was so sad, it could be turned into a diary about the secret life of an ex-party animal.

How could he ever possibly imagine that his brother would call a while later and suggest they eat together tomorrow? At first, he was more than surprised, because Kili had barely spent any time with anyone the past few months and this was quite the change of heart. Then a tiny bit of relief overwhelmed him, thinking that his brother might be back on track –in the sense that he was trying to get over what happened and move on. Although Fili doubted this would be easy, it was a step. And a step is better than being static.

What Fili didn't know was that, in contrast to his assumptions, his brother was slumped on the chair by the window, currently sipping his fourth glass of whiskey and listening to their father's vinyls from the 80's. And when Kili played 'Johnny B' on repeat... well, there was rock bottom, then fifty feet of shit, and then him.

When his phone rang a second time, Fili thought it was his brother again and answered without noticing the caller ID that displayed an unknown number.

* * *

And there he was, almost an hour later, talking with the unknown caller, who wasn't that unknown after all.

"...as if you were better!" he was laughing again. "Before most of our dates you made a point of eating garlic bread, or... or that bomb sandwich with tuna and anchovies- I mean, come on!"

There was a scandalized gasp from the other end of the line. "_I ate those during my lunch break!_" the female voice protested. "_What, should I starve just because we'd meet later?_"

"I didn't say that! You-"

"_And I brushed my teeth twice afterwards!_ _Oh my god, why didn't you tell me that a few months earlier? How many times have you kissed me and I tasted like garlic or anchovies?_"

He laughed delightedly in response. "Liz, I'd still kiss you even if you tasted like ghost pepper."

Undesirable silence ensued and Fili could almost see her face reddening in discomfort.

"_Um... Wow, look at the hour! I'd better go,_" she muttered, "_I'm quite late._"

"Oh?"

"_Yeah, I had to make an assortment of petit fours and eat it all myself about an hour ago,_" she said with a small chuckle and he laughed. There was a brief pause before she felt the urge to add something else, her tone considerably more wistful than earlier, "_It was really great talking to you again._"

Fili was glad that she couldn't see him smile like an idiot. "You can call again if you want," he said in earnest. "I'm free to chat about anything from financial crisis to who's gonna win at the Oscars this year."

He promptly shook his head in utter frustration, facepalming. Good Lord, that may have been _the_ lamest attempt to end a conversation that, despite the scarce few funny bits, was more or less awkward as hell.

Long story short, they shared another laugh, said goodnight to each other and hung up.

And this was the first night after a long time that Fili slept a lot less tense than usual, and the teeny tiny shrapnel of optimism that had remained inside him started to bloom.

* * *

If an army of cockroaches strolled up and down Kili's body, he'd be less uptight than he was now. A slightly nervous hand rose and knocked on the door, which opened wide after four seconds, only to be greeted by his smiling brother.

Fili's smile slowly gave its place to narrowed eyes and a small frown as he took in his brother's form. He thought he looked drawn, even ill, and there was something forced in the way he moved as he walked past him. Certainly his appearance was less colourful than usual without his customary bright smile and, coupled with a thicker beard and longer, curly hair, he looked exceptionally scruffy.

"Did you bring Wilson with you, or is it just the two of us?"

The odd question made the younger stop in his tracks and turn around to face him. "What?" he mumbled in confusion. "Wilson who?"

"You know, the volleyball." Then he gestured towards his chin, "What with the beard and hair, I thought you may have brought your friend over."

The brunet's forehead had 'fake indignation' plastered all over it as he muttered with mocking voice, "Very funny, Kili looks like Tom Hanks in 'Cast Away', ha-ha."

The reply, though exceedingly sarcastic, marked that his brother hadn't lost his sense of humour entirely and was still himself, after all. It made Fili quite glad to witness this, mainly because he had missed him very much these past two months that they barely saw each other out of work. Which was rather odd, since his brother lived five blocks away.

"You won't believe who called me last night," he said with an eager smile as he carried the plates over to the table and Kili settled on a chair. The intriguing introduction earned him a mildly petrified look, as well as a pair of hazel bulging eyes. It made him sigh as he set the plates down. "For fuck's sake, Kili, not everything revolves around Arya."

Just when the protestation was about to come, he raised a hand, and it ended before it even began.

"As I was saying, you won't believe who called," he continued, and Kili waited expectantly. "Lizzie."

The other swiftly averted his gaze, swallowing tightly. "How come?" he mumbled as indifferently as his poor acting skills enabled him to.

"We talked for like an hour. She sounded a bit sad, actually. But otherwise she's quite well and loves Paris."

An echoing silence fell about them and Kili was 99% certain that his thundering heartbeat echoed in the room and betrayed him and his actions. Taking a deep breath and sweeping a few untamed dark curls out of his eyes, he turned to face his brother. "Okay, there's something you need to know," he began determinedly. "I... um, I may have been the reason Lizzie went to Paris –she doesn't know, though."

Puzzlement, surprise, disbelief, and more puzzlement flitted across Fili's face. His whole body had stilled like a pillar of salt for what seemed like an eternity.

"Fil?" a tentative voice cautiously sounded.

"No, no, I'm good," the blond raised a hand. "Just trying to process what I'm hearing."

His brother cringed. "Yeah... I kind of arranged for her to go there. No money or something," he rushed to add, "just an acquaintance who works in that school and-"

"Why-? How-?" Fili was furiously wiggling his head in utter bafflement. "When-? You d- _What?_"

Kili was extremely cautious to stay out of contact range and not even dare reach out a hand to his brother's shoulder. That is, if he still wished to hold onto the ability to procreate. He cleared his throat awkwardly and tugged at the collar of his cardigan, and Fili finally opened his mouth to speak after five minutes of deathly silence that made Kili's already tense nerves stretch like live wires.

"Look, I know you're angry with me," he said gingerly, "you have _every_ reason to be, but hear me out fir-"

A fist landed right under his left eye before he managed to finish the sentence, and he leaned dangerously to the side, nearly losing his balance and falling off the chair.

* * *

The brunet's relentless frankness had led them to a merry row that erupted in the middle of the kitchen. He sustained one or two flesh wounds but survived, in the main, thanks to his powers of persuasion. Expecting a less turbulent reaction, or at least one that would involve less violence, Kili noted how hard and bitter his brother's eyes had seemed.

After their row Kili ended up on the very same chair, this time his head propped backwards against the fridge. "I never thought you'd be that angry," he said, voice partly muffled by the bag of frozen peas that was sprawled across the left side of his face.

Pausing his angry pace from one side of the kitchen to the other, a rather furious Fili turned to face him sharply. "Angry? Oh," he sneered, "I've gone past angry fifteen minutes ago! Now I am not angry, I'm disappointed! I could expect Thorin to do something like that, but _you_? My own brother? I can't fucking believe you actually did that!"

Halfway between the accusations and his aching cheekbone, Kili's instinct of self-defense was stoked to life. "That's exactly why I did it, because you are my brother."

To his horror, Fili began to laugh. Not that he was amused or something; there was bitter anger hidden behind that laughter. "You are such a bastard!"

"I was trying to protect you!" Kili protested. "Didn't you ever realise that she didn't act and might not feel like you did? You were setting yourself up for a broken heart and you had it coming for quite some time." There was a brief pause and then a sigh. "Look, I've been through that thing, where the person you're with for more than a year –not just four months- doesn't give a fuck for you after all," he said with clenched teeth, "and no one was there to help me pick up my pieces again. So don't blame me for doing this," he said sadly. "Don't blame me for trying to spare you what I went through."

"Oh don't get all sentimental with me, it's stopped working since you were three," Fili brushed off. "You can't even fathom what those four months have been like for me. You have _no_ fucking idea- And who the hell gave you the right to determine her way of attachment?" he scoffed. "You barely even knew her! Unless you mean to tell me that you two were secretly best friends and you know something I don't, everything else you tell me is pure crap!"

"'_I barely knew her'_... why do you keep throwing that at me?" There was a hidden plural there, meaning more people than one, which Fili failed to grasp. "You knew her about as much time as I did, for starters," Kili continued hotly, "and from what I'd seen, her attachment wasn't so strong. I mean, come on, any random person could see that you were ready to drop everything for her at a moment's notice and she wouldn't give a damn! She even left without discussing it with you first, she just announced it! Is that not proof enou-?"

"Are you even listening to yourself?" Fili snapped icily, hands trembling and the veins in his neck popping out. "So basically you're telling me that she led me on? How about we take a look at another case, huh? Who else, I wonder," he mused sarcastically, "just left without even discussing it with anyone first and just announced that she'd leave?"

Kili let a deep sigh. "That's differ-"

"It's the bloody same!" his brother shot back. "Just because some people are shy or protective of their feelings, it doesn't mean they don't have them! Has that ever occurred to you, genius?" he yelled mockingly. "I don't care about your past experiences, but Liz is _not_ the person you've made her out to be! You're just so preoccupied with observing people's behaviours that you completely miss their motives for behaving like this!"

"I don-"

"You're such a prick!" the rant went on. "Do you know what she called me for, you smartarse?"

"You've called me a wanker, a tosser, a bastard, a prick and a smartarse, all in the space of thirty minutes," Kili's sarcastic tone concealed his slight irritation. "I got the concept, mind you."

What his brother needed to be more enraged was a tiny spark. What Kili had just said kindled a bloody fire. "Trust me," the blond wiggled his finger in front of his brother's uncovered eye, "I have a stash of swear words I haven't even begun to use!"

The grimace plastered on Kili's face that followed was either caused by the volume of the voice, or the acute pain. Shame that no one would ever know the true cause, as his brother's exasperated speech continued.

"Do you know why she called? To explain why she left like this and apologise."

His brother's downcast gaze jolted upwards. "A little late for apologies, isn't it?"

"You- You machine!" Fili almost burst. "The woman was scared! Scared because neither of us had planned on something like that, because it might be going too fast, and probably that we'd both just wake up one day, freaked out with all of it, and break it off badly. She thought it wouldn't hurt as much while it was still fresh, so she left; wasn't even sure if I wanted to _hear_ her voice again, that's why she didn't call sooner!" He shook his head, still a bit unable to take it all in, and slumped his head forward into his hands. "Damn it, Kili, I was in love with that woman. I _really_ was- I still am. I hoped you'd understand that and be happy about it. And you just meddled in and botched it for no reason at all!"

The brunet watched him from two feet away, one hand keeping the ice cube bag steady over his eye and cheekbone and the other around a cup of coffee. "I never do something without reason."

Silence dominated the room for the next few moments, which seemed like hours to the older who was still fuming from his ears. "This is a very good point to start explaining so I won't start plucking your hair from your skull one by one."

Kili was quiet for a few moments before he spoke again, low and intensely, "You told me once that I sleep with women I just like, because otherwise I'd make myself emotionally vulnerable."

"Yes, and I specifically remember you saying that was crap."

"Well, not entirely," the younger admitted. "Remember Heather? We'd been going out for like a year or something." Fili nodded at him to continue. "Head over heels for each other, could spend barely a weekend apart, my disgustingly smitten, stupid eighteen-year-old self believed it could actually get serious. And then _bam_, dad dies. I was a wreck, couldn't go out of the room and the only thing she did was complain about us not having fun anymore. Then one day, three weeks later, she says, and I quote, she can't stand being with Mr. Walking Depression anymore," he finished with an oddly amused chuckle. "Haven't seen her since."

"'Mr. Walking Depression'? For real?"

"Mm-hmm," the brunet nodded with gusto.

"Oh for fuck's sake," his brother sounded genuinely disgusted, "that is just disgraceful."

Kili shrugged his shoulders. "You get now why I hesitate to open up."

Two or three minutes of pensive silence intervened before Fili spoke again, "Well, damn." Then he squinted his eyes in question, "But... why didn't you tell me that back then? I mean, I could-"

"That's exactly why," the younger quickly cut him. "Because you could and probably would. We both lost dad, not just I. You had your own problems, there was no need to bug you with that, too."

"Come on, I'm your bloody brother-"

"Exactly," Kili agreed with fervour, "you're my bloody brother. And I didn't want you to get hurt now as bad as I did back then. I'm not saying it was nice of me," he added quickly. "I just did what I thought best for your own good. As it turned out, it was a mistake. And I'm not sure how long it'll take you to forgive me, but know that I've been tortured quite a lot for all this. It was something Arya made sure of happening before she left."

Fili's head jerked to him in astonishment. "Arya knew about this?"

"Haven't the foggiest how she found out, but that afternoon she dropped by work to leave her resignation, I got a pretty bad earful," the brunet admitted. "Man, she was _seething_. We got stuck in the lift and she kept screaming- I think I'm lucky she didn't kill me that day."

"God bless that woman," Fili exclaimed, then looked at him with a stern glare. "What you lack in functioning brain, she makes up for the both of you. Marry her."

"Yeah, I'll pass," Kili muttered under his breath, wincing. "I'm already risking my physical integrity by going to Italy. The last thing I need is to have a ring jammed up my colon."

The blond almost spat out the gulp of coffee from mouth and nose alike. "You- You're going to find her?" he shrilled, wiping coffee splatters off his face and the table. "How? _When_?"

"Two weeks from now," a cringing Kili responded, trying not to budge the bag of peas because there was a fairly big, yet rather elegant bruise forming under it.

Fili whimpered. "Once," he cried dramatically. "Just _once_, could I not have had the biggest news for at least an hour?"

* * *

**Stay tuned for the next one and don't forget to review!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello, nice people! It's been three weeks since I updated this, I'm very sorry. Doing my best to catch up with everything I need to do, but as it seems, I'm not good at it. Hope you forgive me for the delay. Lots of love to the new readers who followed and favourited the story!**

**hannew: You really think I could publish this? I can honestly say that your review made me so happy, a little pee actually came out! But sorry to disappoint, I haven't written the whole story yet. I've decided the ending, though. Hope you'll like it :)**

**snowgirll: You're right, there was a Being Human reference! And your wish is my command, the reunion finally happens!**

**overlordred: The 'walking depression' bit is actually based on true story. And don't worry, I totally don't think you're a crazy dog lady. Imo, sometimes pets are better friends than people. Fili and Lizzie are doing considerably better than they did before, and I agree it wasn't nice of her to leave like that. In my mind, though perhaps it will be written in another chapter later, her reason to leave had more to do with her attachment to him, because having such strong feelings for someone she barely knew scared her, so she got the opportunity for some alone-time to clear things up in her mind. Not sure where that goes, though. Thanks for the review!**

**FiliandKili'sGirl18, Savage Kill, mdlearthdreamer: Thanks for the reviews, you guys are awesome and make my days brighter!**

* * *

Since the first time many, many years ago the man saw a wild boar and decided to hunt it, people have been rather keen to set goals. Yet every time we aim at something we desire, there are some teeny tiny, unwelcome things that tend to get in the way. They are commonly known as 'obstacles'.

Can we surmount them?

And if life is basically a form of hurdling, is it worth to have us drag our carcasses to the starting line and race, when the only sure thing is that we're going to fall on our faces?

* * *

_5 days to Christmas_

Kili was fed up with showing his passport to the border guards of every country he passed through on his way to Italy. The operative word here is 'every'. Why to every country, one might wonder. And the reasonable answer would perhaps be that he had a layover in another country where he had to switch planes.

But no, no, no, no. That wasn't the case here.

It all started a week ago, last Saturday, when he had lunch with his brother, mother, and uncle, who was in town for a few days.

* * *

_Fili was setting the plates on his kitchen table that chilly Saturday afternoon of December, waiting for their mother to bring the food. Kili was quietly strolling about the place, deep in thought, not doing much to help. Scarcely a week remained until he was set to leave for Italy, and he was getting more impatient than a child awaiting for his Christmas presents. Also, bless whatever thimbleful of luck he had left, the shiner he'd been sporting the entire past week had faded enough to not rouse questions._

_All was as always, nothing to suggest anything out of the ordinary, the peaceful lunch tradition wholly preserved until the doorbell rang and their uncle entered the house, bringing a gush of cold wind with him, along with a few snowflakes._

_Thorin hastily glanced around, realising that his sister wasn't there. "Oh thank god, your mother would have my head if I was late."_

_It wasn't before long that the idle chat heated up, especially after Kili mentioned his upcoming little trip._

_"And why ever would you take a week off work when the New Year's issue is still in the works? You're the bloody art director, for god's sake!" He turned to his other nephew then, "Fili, have you nothing to say on this?"_

_Before the blond could even form an answer Kili was preparing his arguments, because a fight was undoubtedly certain to follow. "Um, I don't know where you live, uncle," he said calmly, "but in the world where I do, there are those things called laptops, you see. They're portable computers that people can take with them wherever they go and do their work."_

_Thorin shot him a furious glare, but there wasn't even a jot of fear or regret in the young one's face._

* * *

_Naturally, things got worse when the reason of this trip became known._

_And Thorin recited the same arguments he had once presented during a conversation with his nephew's object of affection. He'd been shaking his head in grave disappointment for the past five minutes. He knew something was going on between the two; had figured as much that time he caught them in the kitchen, despite Kili's attempt to rebuff everything._

_"You are delusional," Kili yelled tiredly. He was tired, after all, trying to convince the madman on his opposite of the truth. "How the hell can you be so prejudiced against her? You don't even know her!"_

_At the sound of that, Fili automatically glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. For a split second, he considered not backing him up, let him try a taste of his own medicine and see how he liked it. But the nasty impulse vanished as Kili looked back at him._

_The blond turned to their uncle again. "Yes, why do you hate the idea of Kili being with her so much?"_

_Thorin took a deep breath and crossed his hands on the table almost reverently. He dared not ask Fili's opinion again, because he clearly wouldn't find any support there. "Both of you are destined for better than this," he said haughtily. "She-"_

_"Just no," Kili simply scoffed in response. "I'm not going to argue over something that doesn't even concern you."_

_"You're making it my concern," Thorin growled._

_"Oh, do I?" the brunet shot back sarcastically. "How exactly?"_

_"Because you can't just drop everything to go gallivanting in another country for the sake of someone who doesn't deserve it! There are plenty of women who are worth much more-"_

_"For fuck's sake, I knew you were elitist, but this is- In what bloody century do you live?" Kili snapped furiously. "Since when the criteria for one's character is their fortune?"_

_The tumultuous thunderstorm that had long ago burst behind Thorin's blue eyes seemed worse in the eyes of an outside observer. So loud were the voices and so intense the looks, no one had heard the door open._

_A hand slammed against the table as its owner jumped on his feet like a lightning bolt, not taking his eyes off his nephew's equally fuming form. "I won't have our family name besmirched just because you let your guard down because of that slut's big goo-goo eyes!"_

_If there wasn't a hand with a death grip on his arm, Kili would've probably done something that everyone would regret later. He was seething, the raging ire inside him having surpassed the boiling point long ago. Though, instead of letting it show, he laughed; like crazed man, to be precise._

_"Don't-" Fili growled under his breath, but his brother's hand cut him._

_Then the younger slowly rose from his seat with all his might, unblinking and unfazed. "Don't you ever call her that again. Also, my name," he said starkly, "and Fili's name, is our father's name. Not yours."_

_"You may have his name, but as long as you work in _my _business, you'll have to answer to _me_."_

_"Answer to- Who do you think you are?!" Kili laughed again. "Answer to you! Or what? You'll disinherit me or something?" His wryly smiling features, though, quickly shifted into a mask of raging virulence that his lethal look seemed to enhance as he yelled, "Be my guest, _do it! _Frankly, I don't give a single fuck. And I'm not gonna give you the pleasure of arguing further about this," he said with a shake of his head. "Do whatever you want in your life, but don't meddle in ours."_

_"You will listen to me-"_

_The door suddenly slammed shut and the person that no one had seen enter finally made their presence known. With shoulders square and jaw set hard, __Desirée was a fearsome sight to behold._

_"Hey, mum," Fili muttered awkwardly._

_Her irked look was momentarily replaced by a softer expression as she glanced at him. "Can I have a moment with your uncle?"_

_"No, there's no nee-"_

_She wasn't sure which of the two was talking, but it made no difference. "I said now."_

_Her strict tone brooked no argument and the two brothers walked heavily to Fili's room, leaving Thorin at his sister's mercy. Anyone of sound mind would start to perspire just about then._

_As soon as the door of the room clicked and his sister stomped to the kitchen and set down the bag of food, he waved his hand tiredly at her, "Don't even bother."_

_"I applaud your cutting straight to the case," she said wryly, rather calm. "And I _will _bloody_ _bother, this is my son we're talking about! Did you come all the way down here to just ruin a lunch?"_

_He rolled his eyes. "You know very well that I came to see you all-"_

_"Yeah, right!" she snorted. "More like to see how's the business going."_

_"Hey!" Thorin protested, visibly aghast. "I didn't-"_

_"Oh, I'm sorry," his sister mocked, "was I too indelicate? Did I hurt you?" Before he got the chance to open his mouth to speak she was already continuing with firm, rather loud voice, "Because I'm stating facts-"_

_"The only fact here is that your son is running off to heaven knows where to find a woman, with no care for his responsibilities! Businesses can't be put in the auto pilot-"_

_"So is that what this is all about, work?" she asked with a look that highly doubted the honesty behind his sayings. "You think business will collapse just because Kili takes a week off? What if Fili catches a cold and can't go to work for a day or two, perhaps global economy will collapse then? For god's sake, Thorin, come to your senses-"_

_"I am perfectly well, mind you," he grumbled sullenly._

_"No, you're not!" she yelled in despair. "You just go and call somebody who you barely know names and peg her unworthy of your nephew's affection, just like grandfather did before I got engaged!"_

_Something seemed to snap within him at the sound of that. His forehead and the area round his eyes filled with more wrinkles than those time had already adorned him with, and he looked angry, hurt and mildly scared, all combined in one. "I am not like him," he said through clenched teeth._

_She knew that was a low blow, but if her years had taught her anything, it was her brother's buttons. __"No, you're not," she said calmly. "Yet you sound like a mediaeval grandee when you act like that. I never fancied you as a drama queen, but you seem to have a knack for it. Did you even try to have a civilized conversation with Kili?"_

_"You think I didn't?"_

_"Thorin, _your_ idea of civilized conversation is one with hearing range of ten miles."_

_"God knows I attempted to reason with him, but he's got your bloody stubbornness!" he burst in frustration. "He's in denial, he refuses to see reason-"_

_"Your reason, you mean," __Desirée corrected with a pointedly raised eyebrow. "He refuses to see _your_ reason."_

_"I am right-"_

_"Good heavens, and you call me stubborn," she exclaimed wearily. "You can't always be right! You're not infallible, dear brother, as much as you aspire to be. After all, to err is human."_

_"Oh, don't get all literary with me!" he said impatiently. "Stick to the topic."_

_"Splendid," she agreed immediately and then lowered her voice. "Your nephew cares a great deal for that girl and I'm pretty much certain she feels the same. It's fine, worse things have happened."_

_"But-"_

_"Kili is an adult and, like all adults, he's allowed to make mistakes-"_

_"So you concede that what he intends to do is a mistake!" Thorin exclaimed triumphantly._

_"Don't twist my words and let me finish!" she commanded as she placed a piece of pie on each of the four plates. "He's already made a mistake and now he's trying to rectify the situation. I wholeheartedly admire his courage to do that. And I wouldn't criticize him so harshly about it if I were you. He reminds me of a certain someone__ in a time that he was young and reckless."_

_The emphasis on the word 'someone' made him swallow tightly before his jaw dropped. His nephew reminded her of himself? Something rushed through him, swarmed into his body with the force of an ocean wave and carried everything away with it. Was it shame, was it pride, or something else? He couldn't figure._

_"Don't look at me like that," __his sister clapped her fingers in front of his befuddled face__ and snapped him back to reality. "And close your mouth. Eat your damn pie."_

_He obeyed. He wasn't sure why, he just did. It was strange. Mechanical even._

_After a while, the two brothers were released from their temporary confinement in Fili's bedroom and joined them at the table. Fili was obviously the calmer of the two, with a still angry Kili following in tow and opting to sit as far away from Thorin as possible._

_The lunch rolled as such, in relative silence and even less appetite. Only Fili had almost licked his plate clean, mainly because the food was excellent and also because unpleasant family quarrels made him hungry. He didn't know why. All he knew was that his hunger was sated and he felt more peaceful, sprawled a bit ungracefully on the chair and groaning from the fulfillment. In an attempt to crack the brittle tension that hovered in the air, he said, "Mum, I think you killed us. That was awesome."_

_Desirée smiled, "Only the best for my men."_

_After remaining silent throughout lunch, Thorin cleared his throat. Fili was immediately in alert and braced himself for a new round, only for his fears to be refuted as his uncle had no such intention._

_"Have you booked a ticket yet?"_

_Two heads turned in his direction with faces of pure surprise, although Kili regained his angry façade in no time. He struggled to figure out his uncle's motive to ask this, but he came up with plenty of them, so he gave up in the end, simply waiting to become victim of the contemptuous look. "Mm-hmm," he replied._

_"When does your flight leave?" his mother piped up._

_"Friday afternoon."_

_"Hey, be careful, I heard something about bad weather after Thursday on the news," she mumbled thoughtfully, but then something sparked behind her brown eyes, "Thank god it's not Fili who's flying, right?"_

_"Oh, ha ha ha," her older son said with a wry smile. "I'm more comfortable on a plane than in a bar, for your information."_

_"Really?" Kili mumbled dryly. "That's why your hands had become part of the armchair when we were going to Stockholm, huh?"_

_"Oh, piss off!" the blond faked annoyance and gulped down his glass of water._

_This slightly merry turn the conversation had taken was interrupted by Thorin's voice._

_"So you stand firm on going through with this?"_

_All this time, Fili was staring at his brother, motioning him with both eyes and eyebrows not to give in._

_The brunet had no intention to argue further about the matter, just like he had pointed out earlier. "Yes," he replied with all the ease in the world._

_Thorin shook his head and slumped back into the chair, not really pleased with his nephew's determination and stubbornness, but still mulling over his sister's words. He rubbed his chin, mumbling in an exceptionally wry manner, "You had said you didn't even like her."_

_"I don't," Kili agreed in earnest. "To be honest, I kind of love her."_

* * *

_The days came and went by swiftly, and the coveted Friday finally arrived. Only to bring a giant thunderstorm with it that covered half the northwestern Europe and, according to the weather forecast, would go on for days._

_All the flights were canceled until further notice and Kili was a step away from growing wings in order to fly. He came home from the airport with a red face that had nothing to do with the -4 °C outside, cursing everyone and everything in his way, as well as certain people –namely Thorin- who were blessed with the ability to inflict tones of bad luck by giving a simple ill-wishing look._

* * *

Theory #23:

1) Goal

2) Obstacles

3) Outcome

The goal meets the obstacles. The outcome of that violent collision is the life we end up living.

In summary, there are obstacles that can be surmounted and there are those that can't. But they all have something in common: they make our lives difficult. Though at the same time, they are spicing it up.

We cannot always win. Yet when we lose, obstacles often lead us to choose paths that we otherwise wouldn't even consider taking.

* * *

So there he was, approximately 460 songs later, sitting in the train seat and looking like a dead man, carrying nothing more than his duffle bag; his most important 'luggage' was the small paper with Arya's address written on it. Twenty three hours of travelling and he'd barely got two full hours of sleep, for he was required to switch trains quite often. Hour after hour, train after train, raddled but still hell-bent on reaching his destination; London to Paris, from there to Karlsruhe, to Zürich, to Chiasso, to Milan and, final blessed stop, Turin.

It was pouring down the moment he stepped off the train and, if the dark grey clouds that spread to every direction of the sky were any indication, it wasn't gonna stop soon. What he needed to do now was to crash on the bed of the hotel room, or rather find the hotel first -though right now, in his state of exhaustion, even a bench would do. After roaming around the city centre in vain for a while, he gave up and decided to ask for directions -was too tired to search on his own. And that he did, entering the first shop that happened to be on his way. Fortunately enough, it was a small bistro in the corner of the next street and it seemed quite nice, so he decided to also grab a bite. It would be simply unbearable to hear his own stomach growling all night long otherwise.

* * *

_5 days to Christmas_

It was a truth universally acknowledged that children and sugar was a deadly combination. Living proof, the hyperactive five-year-old sitting on Arya's right and making a small speech about why he should be allowed to join her to a party that some of her friends planned to throw on Christmas Eve, in vain.

The little rambunctious monster was the source of laughter for both her and his mother, who was sitting opposite them and watched in amusement. Her aunt's rather cheery mood was a joy to see after the ordeal of the past few months, although she suspected there was more there than what her aunt let show -it wasn't a bed of roses what she'd been through. And Arya was pretty much certain that even if Rae had not regretted her decision, there was still a thorn prickling her insides sometimes when she stared at Estel and lost herself in thought.

According to her uncle, however, these days were not appropriate for sad notions. Arya, though, being an unconventional mule as certain people would describe her, was not particularly fond of Christmas. Actually, 'not fond of' was a refined description of her sentiments. In truth, she hated it, or rather the commercialization of it. Whoever thought it would be a good idea to decorate literally _everything_ with superficial representations of a hypocritical season celebrating a mythical figure? She had been in deep trouble as a five-year-old who strolled about the park and disgruntled her playmates by claiming that Santa wasn't real. Good times.

Lost in thought for a minute or two, her ears suppressed all the sounds around her and her eyes were focused on the road outside. It needed a gurgle of laughter on her side to bring her back to reality. She smiled at both her cousin and aunt, acting as if nothing had drawn her attention away, and excused herself to use the bathroom. Little did she know that her imminent visit to the loo would prove to be a monumental decision.

She wasn't known to be a clumsy person, yet sometimes her luck seemed to enjoy scheming against her. Practically zigzagging through the tables, and quite absentmindedly at that, she failed to notice the small pool of water –courtesy of someone's broken glass that wasn't cleaned up yet- that lurked for her in her next step. Before her brain could register that tiny little detail in order for her feet to avoid it her boot slipped on the water and the next thing she knew, her body was gravitating heavily towards the floor.

Everything happened in a fraction of the second. In her attempt to hold onto something, she grabbed the first unfortunate person that happened to be on her way, a man with his back turned. The distance between them proved greater than she'd gauged, however, and she found herself part of a making-out session with the floor, the top of her head colliding with the aforementioned man's calves.

She almost groaned from the embarrassment. On the bright side, she was lucky enough not to sprain an ankle or, even worse, getting cut by a shard of glass. Her arms supported her weight as she made to stand up, apologising to the man who had turned around.

"Bloody hell," a shocked curse coming from somewhere close put a stop to her babbling. "Arya?"

That voice. Sweet mother of all that was good and pure, _that voice_. Before she even got the chance to look up that familiar hoarse tone made her nerves tense up like taut, live wires and her heart pulse like that of a deer in a hunter's cross hairs. If there was an Olympics for bad luck, she hadn't just medaled. She had Michael Phelps-ed.

* * *

To say that Kili was surprised would be an understatement of momentous proportions. All the blood drained from his face the moment his eyes fell on the woman muttering apologies in Italian, making him look like a ghost. Soon, though, he flared up crimson.

"Arya?"

She was sprawled across the floor like a starfish, apparently lacking the courage to stand up upon realising that it was him. Reluctantly her eyes moved upwards, taking in the well-built body that she'd once compared to a statue of an ancient Greek god, and with an expression verging on pure agony came to lock with his.

Her mouth went dry. _No_. No, this couldn't be happening. It was a nightmare, wasn't it? Yet, out of all the dreams she'd been having with him -and there had been plenty so far- she did not recall seeing him look like this. He was slightly thinner, his hair had grown noticeably and he now sported a quite enviable beard. He looked younger and older, unexpectedly happy and exhausted, all at the same time. And apparently, very much real.

"Ki-" The sound of his name almost died in her throat from the constant waves of shock that electrocuted her at seeing him again after all this time.

As soon as his brain began functioning again, Kili remembered that he needed to breathe. He'd come to find her, surely, but not in the first shop he'd enter and certainly not so soon. All thought had evacuated his mind and his heart seemed to have jumped out of his chest upon laying eyes on her. When it started pumping blood to the rest of his body again and his skin regained its natural hue, though now tinged with a slight flush, he recovered from the trance.

Millions of questions swarmed behind her eyes, questions she was dying to ask, though her pride wouldn't let her. Instead, it fueled a need to appear as aloof as one could be.

He watched as she fumbled to rise back up on her feet, and quite awkwardly in her frenzied attempt to move away, so he leaned down towards her -they already had an audience.

She almost swatted his hands away. "I don't need help."

Kili was pretty sure that, if it weren't for social constraints, she would've probably punched him by then. "You really have a problem with help, don't you?" he asked, and was immediately rewarded with a flash of rage in her eyes, a sight that almost made him smile.

"I do, actually," she said blankly. "It tends to trigger commitments and I don't fancy being indebted to people I don't know."

And there she goes. It should be disturbing how much he'd missed those scathing quips of hers. "Oh, so now you're acting like you don't know me?"

"Well, since you've never been someone I _truly_ know, I don't see where the fault is in me acting like this."

Kili was left staring at her for a good long minute, unable for the life of him to describe in words what those dark eyes did to him or how much he'd missed them. He found himself unable to tear his gaze from her, it being too ravenous to devour as much of her as he could before something, or someone took her away from him. "Don't you believe in coincidences?"

Something cracked her unsparing façade and she seemed unable to prevent more of her emotions from flowing out. She swallowed tightly. "I do," she said with moderate voice, "but it doesn't always pay."

"You don't think it's funny that I only just arrived and, out of the entire city, I came to the same place you were first?"

"It's weird, yes," she admitted, then gave a little shrug, "So what?"

"Well," he smiled and gave a little shrug in return, "seems to me that a higher power... perhaps destiny, wanted us to meet sooner."

"It seems to _you_," she corrected. "_I_ don't get along with destiny."

With that, she turned her back to him and stormed off to a table where a woman and a little boy sat.

* * *

Rae had watched the entire scene from over her shoulder, narrowing her eyes at the sight of the unknown young man who helped her niece up. She subsequently watched the latter stomping over to their table like a hurricane, with the man's heated gaze piercing her back, and paid a little more attention to his face features. As soon as Arya grabbed her coat like a maniac, everything clicked.

"Aaah, that's him! That's the guy-!"

"SHHH!" Arya waved her hands in frenzy. "_Shush!_ He'll hear you!"

"That's Kili!" her aunt repeated, or rather mouthed.

"If it didn't occur to you," the younger replied sarcastically, "I know!"

"_And?_" she asked in agony.

"There's no 'and'- I- He just came in here- _Here_, out of the _entire_ city-"

Her aunt might be equally shocked, yet her guffaws said otherwise. "Oh my god, did he come to see you?"

"I don't know- I think-" Arya growled under her breath, anger flaring up her face as she angrily fumbled with the sleeves of her coat, "I don't care, I just need to get out of here. Meet you home later."

"But it's raining!" Estel protested. She hardly heard him.

* * *

She was officially both freaked and flipped out. Not even a glance she spared him as she sprinted out into the rain to slow down her pounding heartbeat. Her stomach was tied into a knot and she felt the sudden urge to either scream, cry, or throw up; preferably all over Kili's shoes.

Speak of the devil... he forgot all about food and directions, and he followed her out, despite pouring down, grabbing her arm before she headed further down the street.

"Let me go."

"Arya, please," he said firmly, feeling her muscles tensing up in his grip, "just hear me out."

The dire need of clean air to quell the storm of emotions that, not just his presence there, but a mere look of his roused within her seemed too far from reality. She was panicking; didn't know why, but she did. Was it possible for one who suffered from claustrophobia to have a panic attack in open space?

"Kili, no," she breathed out with stern voice, hair sticking to her face as small rivers of water rolled down her head. "You've already given me enough trouble in one country. We're not going to make a habit of this."

He was undaunted. "How about you use whatever semblance of mind you have left to think a bit? You think I'm here on holiday?" he snapped, with little care if a passer-by heard them. Barely a soul walked down the street after all, and anyone that happened to pass by were sheltered under their umbrellas and hardly paid any attention to them. "I came here to find you, you idiot! We _need_ to talk."

Befuddled and angry beyond sense and logic, she shot him a lethal look of such intensity that it made his bones creak. "I said let me go."

"I have a counter-offer," he said as calmly as he could muster, though his eyes were hooded with irritation. "You come to your senses, we go sit somewhere warm so we won't catch a cold, you let me tell you a few things you need to know, and then you are free to leave."

Human temperament was a volatile compound of perception and circumstance. And right now, Arya's was off the charts. "Here's my counter-offer to your counter-offer," she growled. "Go fuck yourself."

Kili almost recoiled in response, as if slapped. Her words made him wince. It was pure rage and pain. His grip on her arm loosened a bit and she grasped the opportunity to slip away, leaving him dumbfounded and more hurt than he already was. He watched her stride away, through the rain, oblivious that the thick water drops that practically showered her head felt heavier than an anvil.

This was not how he'd imagined their first meeting after two months. He did not expect a cordial welcome, of course, but this was a considerable drawback in his plan. Yet he was not one to give up when faced with the first difficulty. The obstacles were many, though his will and determination were greater; despite the bitter taste this impromptu first meeting left him with.

* * *

**If the timeline seemed confusing, let me know and I'd be happy to explain. Please, review!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Look who's back and hasn't forgotten this story as some of you might think! If there's anyone new that followed or favourited it, welcome!**

**HooksGirl67: It was a Supernatural reference, indeed. So happy you like my stories, thank you very much for the reviews in both of them!**

**overlordred: Pretty sure you quoted The Big Lebowski :D I'm determined to make Fili one of the coolest characters in the story, he's like the physical manifestation of sass in my eyes. Also, I wholeheartedly love your long reviews. Enjoy!**

**Savage Kill, Guest, DiscountJoanJett: Thank you very much for your words, nice people, they put a huge smile on my face!**

**Little surprise for you (mostly for those who read my other story as well and will get the connection): a cat named Mr. Buttons and his owner make a cameo appearance in this one.**

* * *

The new day arrived and, weather-wise, it was considerably better than the previous. A thin veil of grey clouds covered the sky and the sly north wind continued to blow from the Alps, but at least it wasn't pouring down rain like the day before.

Kili barely got three hours of sleep during the night. He was like a child hyped up on sugar, only in this case the sugar was replaced by the accidental meeting with a certain someone, who proceeded to flee right after telling him to do something anatomically impossible. And there he was now, wavering between staying where he was or urged to do something that could possibly endanger his physical integrity.

"_... so because she told you to go fuck yourself, you're gonna just sit by and not even give her a call?_"

"For your information, I did, earlier this morning," Kili said with mocking civility. "She rejected both of them."

"_Go find her then,_ _you have her address._"

"I- I can't do that! It's violation of personal space-"

"_That's rubbish,_" Fili appeased. "_It's ballsy, man._"

"No, no," his brother corrected. "It's suicidal. You always get those two things confused."

"_Come on, you appeared out of nowhere after all this time, it's only natural for her to be flabbergasted. She's had a whole day to calm down, though._"

"I don't know... It's not-" the brunet trailed off and shifted nervously on the bed. "What if she kicks me out?"

"_She won't kick you out-_"

"Look, I just don't want to end up with a restraining order or something." Fili's chortles boomed through the phone. "It's literally my last hope and you're laughing? That's nice," he muttered sarcastically.

"_Ah,_" Fili said with a wistful sigh, "_Hope was the name of the hottest girl in class, second year in college._"

The brunet shook his head in mild frustration. "Very interesting," he agreed with wry voice. "And how exactly does that help me?"

"_I was chasing after her for weeks,_" Fili continued, not discouraged at all. "_It worked with everyone else, but with her... nothing. After every class I was asking her out on a date, _every_ class. And every time she said 'no'._"

"Clearly, the girl had taste."

"_Until one day,_" Fili proceeded with his narration, "_Thursday it was, right when I was ready for another rejection, Hope turns around and says '_Done, I'll see you at 8 tonight'_._"

Kili could almost see the smug grin.

"_That night,_" he exclaimed triumphantly, "_the fortress fell._"

"You drove the girl out of her mind, she probably just shagged you to get rid of you."

"_Do you know what the moral of the story is?_"

"Hope is shagged last?" Kili commented dryly.

"_No, the last one was Anne,_" said Fili with thoughtful voice, "_top of the class, very pretty._"

The brunet sighed. "You really tire me, Fil, what's the moral?"

"_The fight is not over when you lose, it's over when you give up_," his brother said seriously, though all of a sudden his voice turned all cheerful, "_Gotta go back to work. Laters!_"

* * *

And so, the little spontaneous rascal he was during puberty was roused from hibernation, and Kili decided to seize the opportunity and try his luck, no matter the result.

And there he was now, searching the right flat from door to door in a ten-floor building, praying not to come upon another old lady like the one in the first floor, who didn't speak a word in English but nonetheless insisted that he came in to eat something. It was a miracle how he managed to weave himself out of this.

After that, it was the same scene taking place before each door.

_"Hello, does Arya live here?"_

_"No."_

_"Right, fine, thank you. Sorry to disturb."_

He knocked on another door and another and another, until he got really frustrated and started considering the possibility that he had already been to the right flat and the one who opened the door was covering her up.

He had half a mind to do a rerun, until he reached the seventh floor.

The door opened a young woman with hair in a light shade of lilac and she cracked a curious smile.

"Hello."

"Hello," she greeted with a polite nod, having inkling that he must be from another country. "Can I help you?"

"I wish," Kili mumbled under his breath and turned to her with a smile. "Do you happen to have a flatmate, cousin, relative... or whatever, who lives here, named Arya?"

The woman regarded him with a strange look for a second or two, letting her studying gaze rake over his face. His body language screamed restlessness, which she was able to attribute partly to his apparent impatience. "Uh... sorry, no," she said with a sympathetic tilt of her head and saw his shoulders fall in disappointment. "Arya lives upstairs."

His eyes widened. "Really?"

"Sì, straight ahead from the stairs, the door on the left."

"Oh, thank god," Kili whimpered, feeling as if the weight of the world was lifted from his shoulders. It returned, however, after a short-lived moment of elation.

"Are you okay?"

The slightly concerned voice reflexively prompted him to flash an awkward smile. "Er, yes," he said sheepishly, grabbing the woman's hands in earnest gratitude. "Thank you so much and I'm sorry to disturb. Merry Christmas to you."

He swept up the stairs like the wind, feeling and hearing his heart drumming under his chest as he approached the left door, almost as of the End Times drew close. He came to stand before it like a statue, hesitating to do anything but breathing for a while, heavily and deeply. He was so caught up in his worries, weighing what were the chances of Arya going berserk and shutting the door on his face within the next five minutes, that he failed to realise he was being watched. His still figure had attracted the attention of someone who was strolling about the hall, authorized to keep a weather eye on those who dared approach either of the two flats.

A meow knocked him out of his gloomy reverie and made his eyes stray to the hall's big window ledge, where a grey furry fellow lounged and leisurely wiggled its tail.

"Hey, buddy," Kili smiled and reached out a hand to pet it.

Whatever had possessed him to do it, he didn't know. Not that he wasn't a cat person, but if it came to the two, he'd likely prefer dogs.

Without any sign of warning or something of the sort, the feline jumped on his shoulders and planted itself on his neck, sinking its nails into the skin. And he may or may not have proceeded to scream like a scared little mouse.

* * *

The screeches out in the hall drew the attention of a wide-eyed Rae, who opened her door to come face to face with someone trying to get her neighbour's cat off of his shoulders. She rushed to his side and detached it from the man's head, surprised to recognise his face.

"It's okay," she appeased, "I've got him. He's a bit wary of strangers-"

"Pretty certain the feeling's mutual," Kili panted out. "I was just going to pet him and the bloody thing jumped and scratched the hell out of me!"

"Oh, usually he's very nice," she said thoughtfully. "Maybe he's having a bad day, is all."

"Or maybe he is a minion of the antichrist."

Rae suppressed a laugh at this and moved over to knock on the door on the opposite wall. "Bjorn," she called loudly, "Buttons is scaring people again!"

That elicited a subtle eye roll from Kili, who stood at a distance from the woman and the furry mug that rested innocently on her shoulder. He thought of a much more appropriate name for the cat than Buttons; Lucifer, that was.

The door suddenly opened and out stepped a giant who looked like he'd sprung out of a Vikings documentary. Easily seven feet tall, he was the tallest and most strapping man Kili had ever seen in his life, dwarfing both himself and the woman. The man was stealing suspicious glances at him as the woman handed over the little furry devil and Kili suddenly felt a little self-conscious about his humble six feet. The cat hopped down on the floor and, with a curt nod, his owner bade them good afternoon.

As Bjorn withdrew from the door Rae took notice of the staring contest between the man behind her and Mr. Buttons, which was abruptly terminated when the door closed.

"It doesn't bite," she pointed out.

His gaze shifted to her. "Does _he_?" he quickly retorted.

"Not since he was three or four. Or so I'm told," she added with a mischievous smile. "Can I help you with something?"

"Actually, yes," said Kili. "You must be Arya's relative, right?"

"Yeah, she's my niece. I'm Rae."

He took the offering hand and shook it. "I am-"

"Oh, I know who you are," she laughed. "Please, come in."

Panic took him over, although he did not let it show. How could she possibly know who he was? Had Arya told her about him? At first he felt excited at the prospect, but then realised whatever she might have said probably wouldn't be nice. "No, no, there's no need to. I just want to talk to her, is she here?"

"I'm afraid no, she's gone for a run. But you are welcome to come in."

Kili pursed his lips. "Uh... I'm not sure she would appreciate that."

"You're not in danger as long as I'm around, don't worry."

The mirth behind the pair of grey eyes made him relax in the end and he found himself inside the rather tasteful house, faced with a little boy who stared at him with a quizzical look and a serene smile.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"This is Kili, one of Arya's friends. This is my son, Estel," Rae introduced them and the tall brunet extended a hand, smiling broadly down at the child.

Estel shook it with all the enthusiasm in the world, little hand gripping Kili's long fingers. He continued to shake it twenty seconds longer than it was socially acceptable for adults. Also a little more violently. Kili couldn't help but laugh. In the next ten minutes, he'd learned a lot. Arya's cousin was a little terror of the age of five and something, with a ton of messy dark hair and determined to become a Jedi once he grew older. He also supported the view -and quite ardently for that matter- that Obi-Wan was like _the_ coolest character in Star Wars. It was so precious, Kili just wanted to put this child in his pocket and carry him home with him.

Ten minutes later, Estel was in his room and the other two chatted in the kitchen.

"...the weather is awful, how did you even get a flight?"

"Actually, all the flights were cancelled, so I had to take the train."

Her whole body swiveled around to face him. "The train? You took the train?" she asked in disbelief. "All the way from London?"

"Well..." Kili rubbed his neck, trying to sound casual. He, of course, failed. "I took a lot of trains. Then I stumbled on your niece in the first place I went as soon as I arrived - I think you witnessed that- and I haven't quite slept since. It's all still a bit of a frenzy, but it's cool."

Rae looked down at her hands and the cup she was ready to offer him. "I'm not so sure I should be giving you coffee right now," she mumbled thoughtfully, then looked at him with concern, "How can you even keep your eyes open?"

"Can't say I went sightseeing," he said with a smile and shrugged. "I stayed in my room. It was so good to just sit on a bed and not on a train seat for twenty three hours, even without getting some sleep."

"Are you here on vacation?"

"No... not exactly."

"On business then?"

"No, no, no- That's not what I'm here for. I must admit I came to find Arya."

"Oh?"

"You could ask why I didn't just call, but I did, several times, and she never replied-" Good heavens, he was gabbing. "...and you have every right wondering why I popped here so suddenly-"

"Not at all," she interrupted him with a piercing look and he felt as though she could read his mind. "You probably just missed her, were keen to see her, switched five or six trains, and after twenty three hours on the road you arrived."

"I- Well, yes," he admitted with a resigned sigh in the end. "Does it sound too weird? I'm not a stalker, I swear-"

He was cut off by an amused laugh. "I'm not sure what you believe Arya has told me about you or what my opinion of you is, but it's not as bad as you think."

Kili scoffed as his gaze fell down to his cup of coffee. "Let me keep my reservations."

"We may have met half hour ago, but I know what you've done for me."

Brimming with surprise, the pair of hazel-green eyes snapped away from the cup and locked with the pair of grey ones. All the blood drained from his face and he wasn't sure if he ought to start panicking or not. "I don't know what you mean. I've never done anything-"

"Really?" she feigned surprise. Out of nowhere, her gaze hardened and her posture, even while sitting, became unbearably intimidating. "So if I call one Dr. Wilson and ask him about you, he'll be completely unaware of your existence?"

Suddenly, Kili felt antsy. Excessively so. There was a wide range of possible reasons, half of which he really didn't want to explore. He occasionally ran his fingers through the dark locks as he pondered his next word, yet each time the long curls sprang up in a slightly wilder array. It was a stark contrast to his earlier jovial manner when Estel was around and the conversation was hundreds of tones lighter.

"How- How did you know that?" he asked nervously. "I specifically requested that neither you nor Arya be told about this."

Unlike his restless disposition, the woman on his opposite seemed as relaxed as one could be - the winner was obvious. He let a big sigh. "I guess there's no point in denying the truth. You'd call him, he'd tell you that he knows me and the result would be the same."

"Why did you do it?" she inquired. "I was but a complete stranger to you."

Kili looked down to his coffee again, then let his eyes roam about the room until they landed on the window on his left. "My father died of cancer eight years ago," he said in a serious manner, all his nervousness from earlier vanished. "It still is a... rather sensitive area for my family. I won't attempt to convey how devastated we were, or how soul-destroying it was to see someone you love suffer and you couldn't do anything about it. I wish no one had to live through something like that." He turned to face her, eyes and voice more serene than ever. "Even more so when the woman I love is concerned."

"I knew it," Rae exclaimed triumphantly, prompting Kili to think that she'd make an excellent partner in crime for his brother.

Despite himself, he felt amused by her carefree manner and noted that she looked younger when she laughed. "Glad that your acumen is that admirable, but I'd rather she didn't learn about my involvement in the matter."

"I won't tell her if that's what you want, but I have to pay you back-"

"No," he said immediately. "Don't even think about it."

"But I feel morally obliged-"

"You shouldn't," Kili interrupted. "Please, don't make this uncomfortable, we were discussing just fine."

That seemed to get her less insistent, but she was nowhere near convinced. "If my husband hears about this-"

"Then let us keep it between us."

She huffed and puffed for a while, but eventually decided that there was no other option for now but agreeing. "Very well."

In response, Kili flashed a satisfied smile. After a few minutes of silence that seemed to stretch to eternity, his reluctant thoughts decided to become bolder and turn into words. "How is _she_?"

"It's alright, the sea of raging hormones has ebbed somewhat since yesterday."

"Good," he nodded in relief. "Apart from that?"

Thin, long fingers scratched her forehead as her mind tried to form words to answer his query. "She's- Well, she doesn't sleep a lot and it makes her crankier than usual, she doesn't have a full time job – I suspect that's a bit too much for one of her temperament, who needs to occupy her mind with something all the time. So she's running. A lot," she added with a hint of worry. "One would think she'll probably take part in a marathon or something."

"Is she... seeing anyone?"

"Some of her friends still live here and she's going out more often than she used to-"

"Oh..." his shoulders fell. "So she _is_ seeing someone."

"Adam, her brother's best friend, moved here last Christmas. She literally bumped into him on the street two months ago and was so happy to see him. Now she's helping him with the wedding-"

"_What?_" Kili spat out wide-eyed, his mouthful of coffee now decorating the table. If a goddamn meteorite had landed on his head, it would've hurt less. "What wedding? They're getting married? _How? When?_"

Rae's forehead crinkled in confusion and it took a good long second to realise that he'd misunderstood. "By helping, I meant that he and his fiancée asked her to be the photographer in their wedding."

After successfully managing to stabilize his alarmingly elevated heartbeat, he unsuccessfully tried to cover his embarrassment.

"Wow, you should have seen your face," she said with genuine amusement. "You looked ready to have a heart attack."

He let a wry laugh. "So, is she or is she not seeing someone?"

The woman grinned like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. It made him bristle from head to toe. "As far as I'm concerned, you're the only suitor at the moment."

Kili wasn't sure how he should feel about her choice of words. Judging by the grin on her face, she was clearly trolling him. "Did she ever mention anything about coming back? To London, I mean."

"I tried to talk her into it, but she hasn't warmed up to the idea yet."

"And it's all my fault," he said with a wry smile. "Did she, uh, tell you what happened before she left?"

"No, not really. Look, it's not my place to meddle. You're adults, whatever the problem is, you need to figure it out on your own."

"Yes, that's exactly the point," he agreed fervently. "There are so many things she needs to know-"

"Then tell her."

"I'm trying, but she's slippery!"

After his tiny outburst, Kili sighed and shifted again on the chair. Rae tried not to laugh and prepared herself to give a serious ear to the young one's slowly unfolding romantic soliloquy.

"I'm an idiot," he mumbled angrily. "I was asking other women out, while deep inside I was dying for her. You _do_ understand that I've revitalized the concept of schizophrenia."

Rae camouflaged the laughter that was about to escape her mouth with an uncommonly loud cough, and tried to keep a straight face. Not that she didn't sympathise with Kili or respect his emotional pain, but he had a way with words that was bound to crack one up. Now she could see how he'd managed to bring Arya's defenses down, what with her being an emotional brick wall and all.

"Can you explain me why we hurt the people we love more?"

"I don't know," she said softly. "Perhaps because we have a weird way to deal with pain. We think that if we pass it on to the person next to us, it will wear off more easily." Her gaze raked over his face then – he looked utterly worn. Not just physically, but emotionally as well.

Suddenly he felt too exposed and vulnerable, as though he had revealed too much to someone he barely knew. There it was, his trust issues working overtime once more. "Look, I'm not sure she's going to react well to my waiting here, so I think I'm gonna leave," he said hurriedly. "I'd better call her again later. Fingers crossed, this time she'll pick up. Thanks for the coffee and the company, it was very nice meeting you, but if you could do me just one favour... please don't tell her about this."

* * *

Meanwhile, someone else was on their way back from a running session, or rather their roaming about the park like an unleashed hound of hell and scaring passers-by and their pets alike. She had yet to take in last night's events. Everything seemed like a big blur which wasn't about to get clearer soon. She hadn't even admitted this to herself, but there were moments throughout the night and the day where she thought this was a dream, an insane product of her wild imagination and nothing more.

A completely oblivious Arya made a brash entry into the building approximately ten minutes after Kili had left, and until then it seemed highly unlikely to learn his earlier whereabouts. Shame that she had to come upon her lilac-haired neighbour, who casually mentioned that a man was looking for her. When his description perfectly fit that of Kili's appearance, she thought she was going to be sick.

During the ride to her floor she looked as though she had seen a ghost. A million evil notions buzzed in her head. What was he doing here? How did he know where she lived? Well, that was an easy one, Fili had probably given him the address. Oh, that little prick. Who did she murder in a past life to live through this now?

She barely registered putting the key in the lock. A part of her was frightened that he'd be there and she wouldn't get away this time. But no one was there. Her eyes scoured the living room and the kitchen twice. She didn't know what she expected to find -perhaps Kili hiding under a table or something? That would admittedly be a sight to behold. She hoped her aunt hadn't even bothered to answer the door when he'd knocked.

"I made stew," a voice sounded and pulled her out of her misery, "do you want some?"

Arya's gaze shifted to see her aunt walking out of the bathroom. "Not now," she said and tiredly plopped down in one of the chairs round the kitchen table. "I'll eat later."

She shooed her aunt's hand that tousled her hair and let her head slump forward on her folded arms. The sound of running water from the tap was the only thing that was heard for the next few minutes as Rae washed something out, until _something_ made every fibre of Arya's body electrify. Both eyebrows shot up in surprise. She got a whiff of a fragrance... a familiar scent that trailed behind a certain someone wherever he went and had in the past led her to say that he smelled like the air above a coastal orchard in Tuscany.

Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets. _For the love of all that is holy, he was sitting here. _She almost lost it right then and there. Not only didn't her aunt shut the door on his face, but actually let him in? What the actual fuck?!

"Anything happened while I was out?"

"Not really," her aunt replied casually, "why?"

_You little traitor._ "Just asking," Arya shrugged.

The next minutes passed in utter silence. Up until her fingertips started to tap on the table deviously and she sat more comfortably on the chair, as though it was the natural extension of her body.

"He was here, wasn't he?"

Rae didn't lose her cool even for a fraction of a second, remembering her promise to Kili not to say anything. "I don't understand, who-?"

"Oh, please!" Arya spat out. "I can smell his cologne all over the place!" And then the rant began. "Why the hell did you let him in? You _did_ see us last night, didn't you? You think that from the way I spoke to him I invited him for tea and sympathy? Or that-"

"First of all, lower your voice."

Her aunt's raised finger that pointed directly at her was an effective way to make her shut it, not just lower the volumes.

"Second, I don't know what happened to make you treat him like that-" the younger was ready to protest here, but the raised finger succeeded in keeping her quiet. "Everyone says and does stupid things - that shouldn't cost them what they want most in life. Perhaps he deserves that treatment, yes," Rae continued, "but he also deserves you to hear whatever he's got to say. If, after that, your opinion does not change, by all means cut him off. But he also came all the way from London by train because his flight was cancelled."

Without even stealing a glance to verify it, Rae was dead certain she'd hit a nerve.

And all joking aside, Arya sat there like Lot's wife; just like a pillar of salt, only in a modern setting. Whatever control she had over her face muscles was rapidly slipping away from her and, much to her chagrin, her treacherous jaw twitched. _Bloody hell, not a train. Oh that bastard... that was a low blow._

"By train?" she said eventually with a hint of disbelief, if only to conceal her actual astonishment.

"Yes," her aunt shot back. "He switched half a dozen trains and travelled for twenty three hours straight. He hasn't even slept! The least you have to do is give him a chance to speak before telling him to shove his head where the sun doesn't shine."

The small speech prompted Arya's scowl.

"Yeah, sit there and pout, that will solve everything."

"Hey, I'm not a child-"

Entertained to no end, Rae scoffed. "Well, sometimes you definitely act like one," she said pointedly. "Now go take a shower, think about what we said and come to eat – the food's getting cold."

Arya gritted her teeth in annoyance before heading to the bathroom. In times like this, she seriously questioned why she hadn't find a place on her own yet, away from telling offs that would befit a rebellious teen.

"_How about because you're skint and have no job to pay the rent?_" the wry voice in her head answered aptly.

Still, the thought of him having been there, in her house, had no plans to leave her in peace anytime soon. Even in the shower, his ghost haunted the hallways of her mind. Shame, for she considered herself too young to lose the plot.

Whoever would have thought that she'd chance upon the human manifestation of that ghost a few hours later?

* * *

**Off to see the penultimate episode of the Flash's season 1. Cheers!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Knock knock, guess who it is. For those of you who might have wondered, yes, I'm still alive and totally aware that I should be booed for not updating this in over two months. Two jobs can do that to someone, so I'm sorry about the delay. Thanks to you who followed and favourited, and to MsWolffe, HooksGirl67, heroherondaletotheresuce, enje and ClemmieCole for the reviews and the encouraging words. Enjoy!**

* * *

_"Thanks for the coffee and the company, it was very nice meeting you, but if you could do me just one favour... please don't tell her about this."_

_He was already halfway to the door when a call to wait stopped him. He turned around with a slightly quizzical look, peering curiously at Rae writing something down on a small pad. Once finished, she handed him the paper and his look grew even more quizzical._

_"Some friends of hers own that place and sometimes she helps out with music and stuff," she explained. "I think she will be there tonight. If, of course, you're ready to meet her face to face."_

_Kili arched an eyebrow. "That's what I came for in the first place."_

_"It's not very crowded, but I wouldn't worry about her slipping away this time."_

_Hope rekindled in his gut. "Are you sure she'll be there?"_

_Rae's face broke into a shrewd smile, "I'll make sure of that. Around nine, mind you."_

_And for the first time in a long while, his face lit up and his hopeful smile regained its lost radiance._

_"Now, for the love of god," she sounded almost desperate, "please go get some sleep."_

_Kili barely heard a word. Sending propriety to the devil, he actually hugged the woman, said goodbye to her son and was off._

* * *

It was Paolo's turn to DJ tonight, so Arya felt perfectly content to sit on the bar and enjoy her drink. Laura, the talkative bartender with the smart eyes, was one of the three owners of the bar and was in an extraordinarily good mood tonight. One might attribute this to the subtly covered hickey in her low neck, result of a rowdy experience the night before, though one would seem rather superficial and a bit disrespectful if they considered only that as a possible cause for her high spirits.

Rather focused on fixing a few drinks, she was a second late in noticing the stranger enter. Tall, handsome, dark haired and bearded, he looked around for a while until his gaze landed on the bar.

The cheerful bartender resisted the urge to laugh at the perfect timing of the man approaching the bar and the first notes of the song that hit the air. Black leather jacket, blue jeans, white shirt, he walked into the room and, oh, he made her eyes burn.

"Mamma mia," she muttered under her breath.

That made Arya's so far slumped head lift up to eye level. "What?"

"The best incarnation of Wolverine I've seen, after Hugh Jackman. Don't look, he's coming over here," said Laura with a discreet cough. "Dibs."

Arya sighed loudly. "Um, hello? Does the name Alex ring a bell at all?"

"Damn you, woman. Why do you have to remember everything?"

Arya gave the most innocent look she could muster, shaking her head in a dramatic way when Laura's smart blue eyes strayed to her left.

"Buonasera," she heard her say.

The second best incarnation of Wolverine greeted accordingly, his voice slightly altered when speaking a language different from his native one. Then he changed to English. And there was that familiar tone and the ever so slight Irish lilt that made Arya's stomach feel as though it had made a somersault on bare asphalt.

"What can I get you?" Laura chirped. "We have recently expanded our selection of wine-"

"Oh, no" the man smiled. "Wine is for celebrating. I'll have a martini."

Arya's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Human temperament was a volatile compound of perception and circumstance. And right now, hers was about to have a meltdown. Turning around, she came face to face with a dapper Kili who had just ordered his drink, and was unable to hold the small gasp her mouth blurted out. "What in God's name are you doing here?"

The tall brunet flashed a disturbingly charming smile as he leaned on the bar, fixing his eyes on her as if he were the wild beast that had just lured its gullible prey into a trap. "Nothing in his name. Here on my own, actually."

Everything from the night before struck back, the flutter upon seeing him up close after all this time, the tantalising curls and beard that tempted her fingers to tangle with them, his smell coaxing her closer to him and, last but not least, the perpetually playful undercurrent hidden in his eyes that made her nerves tingle with anticipation. She didn't know if she ought to feel angry and betrayed, or deceived and randy. Unfortunately, there was no middle ground.

Her face features quickly returned to the default mode they had adopted that night –the scowl. "And here I was wondering if the day could go any worse," she commented dryly.

"Ever so honest."

Arya glared at him from the corner of her eye. "Oh, forgive my penchant for telling the truth."

"Which is, much like beauty, in the eye of the beholder."

"And which is why one shouldn't meddle in other people's relationships."

"Generalization," he countered.

"That is open to argument."

"Why, oh why, do I have the distinct feeling that you two know each other?" Laura chimed once she found a safe moment between the verbal gunshots.

"We do," Kili replied automatically, not taking his eyes off of the obviously angry woman on his opposite, while said woman's simultaneous reply was a firm, sarcastic "We don't."

He could not resist smiling at the barb. "Our opinions conflict, how original," he commented dryly. "May I sit?"

"No."

Kili grinned wickedly and placed himself on the stool beside hers. He had got some much needed sleep in the afternoon, anyone could tell. There was hardly any weariness in his face, he looked fresher than ever after a shower, and his eyes beamed.

He didn't speak at first. Neither did she; just gave him that look, the one he couldn't decipher for the life of him. He could actually hear the wheels spin in her head, but being un-privy to that information, he had no idea what about. He simply watched her dark eyes narrow as they raked over his form, leaving an odd sensation in their wake.

Unconventional silence reigned the next few minutes and time seemed to be running torturingly slower. And it was just about then that, unbeknownst to him, the DJ hit home for the second time that night with his musical choices as 'A girl like you' by Edwyn Collins started to play.

Kili thought it rather fitting for the occasion, seeing as he was all but crawling and bleeding so far. "Long sullen silences and an occasional glower -the Arya way," he commented dryly at some point. "Are you okay?"

She seemed exceedingly unwilling for chit-chat; only muttered a grumbling "Fine."

"We didn't have time to catch up the other night. Any news?"

"Same old, same old."

"Oh well," he sighed. "Anything else? How does life here work for you?"

"Could be better."

Kili rolled his eyes. "Lovely," he said with a wry look. "Pleasure to have had this substantial conversation with you."

"Pleasure is all mine," she said in the same tone. "Now, bugger off."

"Come on, you tell me you're not even a tiny bit pleased to see me after all this time?"

Arya's eyes almost hurled out fire. "I am frothing with excitement," she said dryly. "Now, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Well, that's none of my business," a voice emerged on their right, "but I'm pretty sure he's waving the white flag." Laura wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at her friend, who was a step away from murdering someone as she did her best to avoid any contact –eye and not- with the man beside her.

Kili smiled over his shoulder at the bartender, undaunted by Arya's lethal glower. "Sorry, I actually forgot the flag."

It was like pouring gasoline on a bonfire. And expected it to die down.

"Aw, shame," Arya spat out sarcastically, "I would have told you where to put it. How did you find me here?"

"A little bird told me you frequent this place."

Her eyes shut in agitation. If she were a shape-shifter or something, there was a pretty good chance she would transform into a panther, pounce on him and rip his throat out. "I'm going to muzzle my aunt."

Kili shifted a tad uncomfortably on his seat. "Look, I _know_ what you think of me-"

Anger flashed anew behind her eyes. "Do you, now?"

"That I am the most unmitigated and comprehensive ass-"

"Trust me, the amount of adjectives I can attribute to your person is not even remotely polite as that description."

"Be that as it may," he said firmly, "this will be much quicker for all of us if we can fast-forward through the sarcasm and reach the conclusion that I need to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Certain matters," he said readily.

"And who says I wanna talk to you?"

He arched an eyebrow. "Well, you were pretty talkative two weeks ago when you called me in the middle of the night to say that you were cold in _my_ t-shirt."

That seemed enough to crack her false bravado.

"So, how does your availability look like?" he continued. "I'd be happy to squeeze myself in wherever I can."

"You already squeezed yourself in unwanted places," she growled. "You had no right to drag anyone of my family into this."

He sighed. "I asked your aunt not to tell you that I-"

"Oh, for fuck's sake," she snapped, "if you didn't want me to know about this, you could have at least not bathed yourself with perfume before you went there!"

"Wh- You actually want me to believe that you recognised my cologne and figured it all out by yourself?" he asked in disbelief, inwardly cursing his habit of wearing it most of the time, though.

"It was hardly a difficult deduction, especially when the whole place continued to smell like you for hours after you left, but that's not the point. The point is that you're disturbing-"

Kili straightened his shoulders and his form seemed to tower over hers. "You were so kind to send me to hell last night and every time I called you before that," he growled, "so I had _every_right. Just let me tell you a few things and then I won't bother you again, I swear."

"Very well," she said with a challenging shake of head. "You've got two minutes," she glanced down at her watch then, "starting right now. I'm listening."

"I- You d-" He cleared his throat, despising himself for having been caught off guard. "I'd rather we talked somewhere quieter than this place, actually."

The woman didn't dignify him with a definitive reply. Instead she scowled and turned away from him. Something told him that she was in no mood to see reason.

He took a long sip from the martini, sloshed it about in his mouth, and then swallowed. The alcohol felt like fuel entering his system and powering it up. He stared at her face quite intensely for a few seconds, searching for any sign of any emotion before he let a small sigh –he had found none. Suddenly, he put the glass down and shifted closer, extending his hand to her.

Arya almost choked on her drink and her eyes frantically snapped up to him, searching for any sign of this being a tasteless prank. "You've got to be joking..."

The classic by now raised eyebrow was the initial reply she received. His hand awaited before her, luring and anticipating. "Not at all," he said seriously. "Another little bird had once told me that tango is your favourite."

Her quiet seething was starting to become crystal clear as her eyes closed in agitation and she scoffed wickedly. "Tell that rumour-monger of a brother of yours that he's going to _suffer_."

Kili laughed delightedly, although her cracking jokes while on the verge of condemning him to the ninth circle of hell seemed a little off-putting. Even _she_ couldn't believe she had actually attempted to joke. Had she stayed true to her real self, she would have probably given him a nice tell off for even having the nerve to ask her to dance.

It was so odd to hear her teasing voice after all this time. "Come," he insisted, his tone far more hoarse and compelling than usual.

"No," she said evenly, then let a weary sigh. "Give it up, okay? I doubt you know even the basics. Ten o' clock," she directed him towards a little huddle of three women. "Go slink with one of them and leave me alone."

He didn't even consider rejection. One of them was going to relent and it wouldn't be him. "I bet I dance much better than you."

"Oh, you dance better than me?" Arya scoffed. "And that would be the joke of the week."

"Very well, then." She was caught very much off guard when he suddenly leaned closer to her, capturing her between himself and the bar with his long arms. He was gonna make her an offer she couldn't refuse -pun totally intended. "Since you're so certain my dancing skills are inadequate," he said with low, challenging voice that made her heartbeat falter, "wouldn't you like to watch me make a fool of myself in front of everyone in here?"

That smug little bastard; he knew her buttons and he was using them quite craftily. "If you put it that way," she flashed a wry smile, "by all means."

* * *

The dance was one of those situations where both people are dying to have a safe distance between them, but neither wants to seem affected by the tangible awkwardness their proximity caused; on one's part at least. That would be Arya's. Kili had no problem whatsoever with the proximity, but he wished to give her as much space as she needed to feel comfortable. He was extremely amused by her desperate struggle to retain a mood of nonchalance, like nothing had changed. Also, by her scowl once she realised that he, in fact, was a rather good dancer.

She wasn't going to open her mouth anytime soon, so he took it upon himself to make small-talk. "Enjoying ourselves?"

"Would you prefer a sarcastic response to that, or should we stick to the '_silence is gold_' adage?"

"I'm pretty sure you already chose the first," he said evenly. "Your aunt told me you made a habit of running this past month. Blowing some steam by running a lot, or are you trying to run away from something?"

Arya gave him a dry look. "The world of psychoanalysis would be lost without your insights."

"Oh, come on," he huffed indignantly. "We can't keep going on mute!"

"Why not?" she inquired. "Is there a specific rule requiring chit-chat while dancing?"

"No, but it'd seem unsocial to dance and not utter even a word."

"We talked earlier."

His eyes went wide. "Yes," he burst, "and each of your replies was three words maximum!"

"Brevity is the soul of wit," she said pointedly. Her literature professor would be proud to see that this last fragment of Shakespeare he had imparted in her brain wasn't gone out the window already.

On cue, before he could respond, the song came to an end. The few other dancing couples around them stilled, and she retrieved her hands from him. Before she could take a step back he pulled her closer.

"What are you doing?" she asked in alert.

"Mowing the lawn," he muttered sarcastically. "What do you think I'm doing?"

"What if the next-" _It's a man's world_ started playing right then and she all but made Paolo, the DJ, vanish from the intensity of her glower. Then she turned to Kili, "How is it even possible to have blues play _exactly_ when it's convenient for you?"

He shrugged. "The universe is working for me."

"Clearly."

It wasn't the universe in itself, actually. It was Laura who made a contribution to the cause, if the exchange of thumbs-up between her and Paolo was any indication. Good thing that fell off Arya's radar, or there would be a bloodshed.

Speaking of which, Kili's beard was scratching against her temple and made the hair on the back of her head stand still. She was wearing that same flowery perfume she always did that set him on edge. It was so much her, so clearly Arya.

"Why did you come all the way down here, Kili?"

There was that forgotten flutter in his stomach the moment she uttered his name. "What-"

"You could keep calling me until I answered."

"Really?" he said wryly. "When?"

"Maybe... at some point."

He snorted. "Liar."

She looked up to him, unprepared for the heated gaze that was pinned on her. "You could have someone else call, you could have sent an e-mail... or even a letter," something akin to anger erupted in her eyes then and made her face flare up, "not take six fucking trains because the weather was bad and you couldn't find a flight."

He remembered perfectly well the problem she had with trains, as well as the cause of that. And if he were honest with himself, it made him wonder why he was among the people she got angry with for having travelled by train. "Careful," he said pointedly, "you almost sound concerned."

"And you sound less high up your arse than usual. How's that so?"

Kili simply glared at her. The light pinch in her side was totally unexpected and she squirmed lightly in response.

"Might I ask what's the burning matter you need to talk to me about?"

"That is for another, quieter place, just as we said."

"How about we get this over with then?" she huffed impatiently and broke away from him. "I'd really appreciated it if we ended this dance fiasco. I can't stand you whispering in my ear anymore, it makes me bristle."

He arched an eyebrow. "My voice makes you bristle?" he asked in surprise as he followed her back to the bar, all smug and charming. "Well, that's new."

Not at all. Quite the contrary, it was getting old. "Mmm," she said dryly, glancing at him over her shoulder, "maybe you should consider starting a career in sex hotlines."

He raised the eyebrow again. "Will you call to talk to me?"

"Do I have to call a sex hotline to talk to you?"

"Well, you never call me in my regular number, at least call me there."

It wasn't that funny and, under other circumstances, she would facepalm, but it had been _so_ long since she'd last witnessed one of his bad jokes that she actually, and much to her chagrin, couldn't resist laughing under her breath.

"Let me get my things and we can go somewhere quiet to talk, just as Your Highness commanded."

"I'll let that go, only because you agreed to talk without a riot," he countered. "Just one more minute, I need the loo."

Just as Arya picked up her coat, Kili was striding across a small hall towards the toilet, failing to see the figure of someone walking up to her.

* * *

The blood running out of Kili's nose had apparently no intention to stop soon, and Arya sighed, knowing she'd have to be very patient. Because of course he hadn't allowed her to use haemostatic cotton, claiming that he'd never have something akin to a marshmallow shoved up his nostrils. She in turned warned him that she would shove it somewhere else, so he was a little less apprehensive about its use then.

He looked up at her from where he sat on the edge of the washstand of his room's bathroom. His eyes followed her hand's careful movements with the towel she held under his nose, straying north sometimes to marvel at the face he had so much missed.

"Your nose is going to bruise," her scolding voice disrupted his reverie.

Second time in three weeks, thought the brunet. Step back, people, we have a winner! Still, he didn't give a damn. "Big deal," he waved off. "You should see the other guy."

"If you recall, I actually saw the other guy," she said dryly. "He didn't do anything, why on earth did you punch him?"

"He wouldn't leave you alone!"

"He was asking me if I'd happened to see his keys around, because he was sitting there earlier! He lost them and was simply looking for the-"

"He lost-" scoffed Kili and then continued in a much dryer tone, "Where, in your bra? The guy wouldn't get his eyes off your ti-!"

"Know that whatever you intent to say about _that_ area or my choice of clothing can and _will_ be used against you," she warned. "And in more painful ways than you can imagine."

He scowled. "I wasn't going to say something offensive about _that_ area. Quite the opposite, it's really nice and your clothes are very flattering-" Her eyebrow was raised impossibly high and he froze as soon as he took in his exact words. "Not that I was staring there, of course," he rushed to explain, "I am simply making an observ- _My point is_ that ogling and drooling over you like he did, apart from the fact that he could clearly see you had a date, was just tacky and disrespectful. So all I did was to give him a nice lesson in propriety-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Arya raised a hand to stop him, "hold up there, mate, a 'date'? Since when were you my date?"

"Fine," he huffed angrily, "whatever. But he must have seen us dancing and he could also see that we were ready to leave, _together_. I might as well be your date!"

"Still, that was no reason for you to beat him up!" She poured some more water on the towel to clean off what little blood had splattered across his cheek, and then sighed deeply, "Always _so_ eager to show off."

"I wasn't showing off!" he protested, rather affronted; then he muttered something along the lines of, "I would do far worse to get this attention from you."

Curiosity got the better of her, but in the end she thought it wiser not to ask. She nearly flinched back, though, when Kili leaned his cheek in her hand, his grown beard a bit rough but not at all unwelcome against her open palm.

And all of a sudden, the warmth of her hand disappeared and he was left with the feeling of the room's cold air against his face.

"You shouldn't have come here," she said.

* * *

**To be continued. ****Pray, and I will pray along with you, for me to have the next one ready much sooner this time. Don't forget to review!**

**P.S. I'll do my best to update 'Wanted dead or alive' within the week. Please, be patient :)**


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